Guardians: Into The Unknown Draft
by RaufAzim
Summary: Heiress to the House of Myrah, Alita was born a Tiefling freak. When her life suddenly takes a turn for the worst, she forced herself to leave the place she once called home. Travelling to foreign lands Alita must find help if she is to survive. The story will progress as me and my friends continue our campaign in D&D. Do support, vote and give me feedback.
1. Chapter 1

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Mommy, the other kids were mean to me again," Alita sobbed as she rubbed the tears out of her eyes./spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt;"br /br /span style="background: white;""Oh my sweet starlight, come here. Let me see that," Talia beckoned for her daughter to come closer./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"Talia inspected the cut on Alita's forehead as gently as she could. It wasn't that deep a cut. The blood that dripped from it had dried, leaving a crusted trail. It should heal within a week. Talia asked one of the servants to go fetch some water and a cloth so she could clean the wound and the servant disappeared hurriedly to go fetch the items. Talia picked her daughter up in her arms and began walking towards the garden, cooing her to stop her crying. /spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"The garden was the most beautiful feature in the estate, teeming with life. Vibrant colors of different flowers stood out against the green bushes, their sweet aroma wafting into the air. Birds could be heard from their nests in the nearby trees. The air seemed to cool the deeper they went into the garden until finally they reached the center of it all, a giant Wisteria tree that sheltered all beneath it. Its pale lavender leaves stirred in the wind. The floor around the tree was carpeted with lavender leaves making it look almost magical./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"This tree was Alita's favorite place in all of the estate. Her mother always said that the reason her skin was a pale lavender was because she was always spending time under the tree. Alita knew her mother was lying but she didn't mind it since her mother always said that the tree was as beautiful as she was./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"Talia sat them down at the base of the tree and inspected her daughters face once again and began giggling. The wind had blown the lavender leaves into her daughter's hair and some of it into her face. She blew the leaves from her daughter face and went on to plant kisses on Alita's cheek then it went down to her neck, tickling her and causing her to laugh and squirm under her mother's kisses, her tail wriggling./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Milady, the items you requested," Turen informed as he set down a tray which held a bowl of water, a folded piece of cloth and a plate of cookies./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""COOKIES!" Alita exclaimed excitedly./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Oh Turen, you spoil her too much," Talia sighed./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Not more than you do milady," Turen answered, taking his leave./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"Alita began to reach for one of the cookies when she thought her mother wasn't looking./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"Talia moved the plate out of Alita's reach. "Bup bup bup. We need to clean you up a bit before you can have those cookies." /spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"Talia reached for the cloth, dipping it in the water and squeezed the excess back into the bowl. She began wiping the dirt out of Alita's hands before moving on to her face, careful to be gentle around the area where the cut was. She then went on to comb the lavender leaves out of her daughter's hair. Talia was careless with the placement of her hand and Alita's small horns accidentally poked her, causing Talia to wince slightly./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""I'm sorry mommy, I didn't mean to-"/spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Hush my dear, it's no fault of yours," Talia stopped her daughter with a finger to her lips. Talia could still see that her felt guilty about accidentally hurting style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""How about a cookie?" Talia handed one of the chocolate treats to her daughter, to distract Alita's mind. Alita, being the child she was, grabbed one of the chocolate treats and began wolfing it down with such vigor./spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt;"br /br /span style="background: white;"They sat there, enjoying the moment and company as Talia began drawing out symbols on the ground. Alita had never seen such symbols before. They were like nothing she had ever seen. The symbols were beautiful; shifting, swirling and glowing./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Mommy, what are those?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Runes my dear starlight," Talia answered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Runes?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""They were taught to me by my mother and now, I show them to you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""But what are they for mommy?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""For magic." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Mommy there's no such thing as magic," Alita laughed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Of course there's magic starlight. We're born of magic."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia lifts Alita and rests her on her shoulders. Talia began walking to the nearby pond, where a tall apple tree stood./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Try and take one," Talia prompted./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita looked up and tried to reach for it but it was just too far away from her. But then, the distance between her and the branch began to lessen and lessen until Alita could finally reach and pull the apple free. Alita was too busy munching on her freshly plucked apple to notice the tree branch get further and further away to the point where she could no longer reach it. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"They stayed by the pond, finishing the rest of the cookies, watching the sun set below the walls of the estate./spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt;"br /br /span style="background: white;""Are you still hungry? Do you want to eat your dinner?" Talia enquired./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Nope, cookies are all I need to grow," Alita answered./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"Talia couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's logic. /spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Alright then, it's getting dark, time for you to take a bath and get ready for bed."/spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Aww. But I'm not tired," Alita replied./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""I'll read you a story if you get into bed early," Talia coaxed her daughter./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Can it be about adventure again mommy? Pleeaassee."/spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"Talia sighed and relented. She just couldn't say no to that cute face. Alita cheered loudly, jumping in the air. A thought came into Talia's head. Maybe Turen was right, she did spoil Alita a little too much. But it couldn't be helped./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;""Come along now dear," Talia led Alita by the hand back into the estate and through the winding halls./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"The halls were brightly lit with candles and lanterns that hung from the ceiling. The walls were filled with artwork that Talia had gathered over the years. Amongst the artwork were paintings of the families of their house, House Myrah, from the founder, Lady Alaina Myrah herself, to little Alita's painting which had been done mere weeks ago. As the Mother and daughter duo traversed the corridors, the smell of sweet incense filled the halls, soothing the nerves./spanbr /br /span style="background: white;"Gradually, Talia's paced slowed until she stopped short in front of a pair of mahogany doors that were left slightly ajar. Talia turned to her daughter./span span style="background: white;""Alita dear, would you wait out here a moment. Mommy will be right back."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia entered the room and gently closed the door behind her. She turned and took a second to take the room in. It was a relatively big room filled with minimal furniture, well lit from all the lanterns that were hanging about. The room slightly stuffy as the windows had been closed shut. There were a few chairs and a table close to the door that made the "meeting area" and the walls were lined with bookshelves that stored receipts, ledgers and other documents related to business./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"He sat the far end of the room, behind large oak table busy scribbling away on a piece of paper. There sat the head of the family. There sat the father of her child. There sat her husband, a cold, calculating and bitter man. There sat Marcus Arindel Myrah, the lord of house Myrah./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You know, your daughter got hurt again playing outside."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Is that so?" answered a deadpan voice./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"He didn't so much as look up from his work. Talia's hand began forming a fist, her anger building up within her. She waited a moment to see if he would pursue the matter. But as usual, he didn't./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Someone probably threw stones at her again. Just like the last time," Talia explained./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yes, yes, yes. You have already said all this before. What would you have me do about it, hm?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"So he had been listening all this time. But what good had that done? He still sat and focused on his work, not a hint of care in his eyes./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""What I want you to do? Something! Anything! This is our daughter we are talking about!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yes I know she is my daught-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yet you do nothing. You don't talk to her. You don't play with her. It's like she doesn't even exist to you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Talia, I do not know what you are talking about."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia couldn't believe that Marcus was still feigning innocence. Talia's tail was moving more eratically./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Don't! Don't you dare play me for a fool!" then quieter. "You strive for all that wealth and power, at what cost?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia moved ever closer to the table, suppressing the urge to hit him, the strain of their relationship evidently wearing her down. Here sat the father of her child. A man who coveted wealth and power over all else that he was willing to throw aside his family as if they were nothing but tools./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""When was the last time you even saw your daughter. Saw her face. I wonder if you even remember her nam-. "/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Knocking from the pair of mahogany doors interrupted Talia./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Milord, a letter from the House of Moram has just arrived for you," said a muffled voice./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Ah yes, yes, the draft for the new treaty. Come in. Bring it here," Marcus answered, springing to life, getting up from his seat to meet the servant halfway./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"This little letter took precedence over the conversation they were currently having. Talia let out a frustrated sigh and stormed out of the room./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita watched as her mother closed the pair of mahogany doors behind her, leaving her all alone in the hallway. She stood there playing with her tail, all the time wondering what could her parents be talking about. Her curiosity got the better of her. She crept up to the door and gently pressed her pointed ear to it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Is that so?" her father's voice muffled and soft. She could barely hear him through the thick doors./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Someone probably threw stones at her again. Just like the last time," Her mother's voice slightly louder./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yes, yes, yes. You have already said all this before. What woul-" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""And what might we be listening to today?" asked a voice behind Alita./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita stifled a scream, her tail flailed about. Helen, one of the servants of the estate, held a finger to her lips, signaling Alita to remain quiet./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Are mommy and daddy fighting again?" Alita whispered, calming herself down./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Oh I wouldn't know anything about that young miss," Helen lied./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Why? Is it because of how I look?" Alita pressed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Helen looked down at the young Tiefling girl in front of her, a small, cute girl with pale lavender skin, pointed ears, two small horns on her head and an uncontrollable tail to match. It didn't matter what some people said. This wasn't a monster. It was a child, a sweet innocent child that Helen pitied./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""There is nothing wrong with the way you look young miss. Anyone who says that to you is wrong and deserves a good scolding," Helen bent down and gave Alita a warm hug. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita remained silent, her tail curling around her leg, a reflex when she was sad or nervous./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Now please excuse me young miss. I have a letter for your father that I need to deliver."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Helen stood, straightening up her uniform before knocking on the door./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Milord, a letter from the House of Moram has just arrived for you." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Ah yes, yes, the new treaty. Come in. Bring it here," came the muffled reply./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita could hear her mother letting out a frustrated sigh and when she came out of the room, she wore a sad smile, a charade for her daughter./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Let's go give you a bath my dear," Talia tried to sound as jovial as she could as she led Alita by the hand away./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"As Alita passed the open door, she stole a glance inside to see her father, with his face buried in the letter, not even acknowledging her. Talia was silent the rest of the way, her mind and emotions in turmoil. Alita followed her mother, all the while keeping her eyes on the floor./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia prepared the bath for her daughter, filling up the bathtub with nice warm water and adding the foaming bath salts to it. Soon the water began to smell of the sweet aroma of citrus and began to bubble. Talia made sure that there were lots of bubbles, just the way Alita liked it. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"When all was ready, Talia helped her daughter into the bath. Talia started with Alita's hair, running her hands through her daughter's smooth black hair, making sure to clean her horns as well. Talia tried cleaning the wound as gently as she could but the soap burned on Alita's forehead, causing her to whimper slightly. Once Talia was satisfied, she began scrubbing the dirt off the rest of Alita's body. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita took her bath in silence, cooperating with her mother, the sound of her mother's frustrated sigh still in her head. After a quick rinse, Alita was dressed in her night clothes and whisked off to bed. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita's huge bed was placed by the windows of her room. It seemed much too oversized for the person who lay in it. The windows had been left slightly ajar to let the breeze in, the moonlight seeming to bounce off the white walls. The room was about the size of her father's study. Big oak wardrobes and a vanity table were arranged on one side of the walls and on the other wall, lined bookshelves and toys kept in small wooden crates. The wall by the bed held a family portrait./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"It was a family portrait from when Alita had just passed her first birthday. Talia sat on a chair, dressed in a beautiful black dress, her fair skin standing out in contrast to her clothes. Her face, beautiful with flushed cheeks, bearing a smile that could light up a room, her black and purple hair in a crown braid, just barely hiding the tiny horns underneath. In her arms, little Alita lay curled up, sleeping, her tail curling around her mother's arm. Behind them stood, Marcus in a formal white suit with an impassive expression on his face./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia tucked her daughter in and lay down next to her. Once both of them were comfortable, Talia reached over to the nightstand to grab the book that had been prepared by one of the servants. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Adventures of the Red Herring, read the title. It was one of Alita's favorite books. It followed the adventures of a band of mercenaries who called themselves The Red Herring. There were lots of good stories and pictures in the book which attributed to it being Alita's favorite. Talia began reading the book from the chapter they were last at. The Red Herrings were on a quest to rescue a group of missing people from a village this time. They faced many challenges along the way, ranging from bandits to swampy terrain and even a pack of monsters at the end. Coming towards the end of the chapter, Talia could feel her daughter begin to nod off./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""That's enough for tonight. Go get some rest dear," Talia closed the book and placed it on the nightstand./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She began to pat Alita's head gently to help her along./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Mommy? The monsters in the books, am I one of them?" Alita's eyes grew heavier./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia's hand stopped momentarily. "Well if you're a monster, then that would make me the mama monster." Talia tickled her daughter's belly and got a small giggle out of her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Oh my dear, my sweet starlight, we are not monsters, listen close."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia raised her daughters chin so that she was looking at her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia told Alita of how their blood was born of magic. The story went that long ago one of their ancestors delved in dark magic, not for self-gain or power, but to save the people who were under her protection. She was hailed a hero by them. Alita's face brightened when she heard that she was a hero's descendant. How true the stories were; Talia did not know./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"But what she did know for certain, magic flowed through their blood. It manifested in them in the forms of horns and tails, making them Tieflings. But Talia never thought of being a Tiefling as a hindrance or a curse. Sure her horns were very small, her tail thin and short making it easier to blend in but people will always first by what they saw. But she melted their hearts, showing kindness and compassion to people until they could look past the horns and tail to see the angel within./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Monsters are only monsters because they choose to act like one," Talia continued./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Then what am I mommy?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You are my daughter. My sweet little starlight. Never forget who you are. People will say all sorts of things to sway you. But as long as you know who you are, their words will never reach you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita spun about and tried to wrap her hands around her mother's waist, but her hands proved too short. Talia bent over and kissed her daughter's forehead. She sat there singing a lullaby for her daughter till her eyes closed shut./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia continued to sing the lullaby until she was sure that Alita had fallen asleep. She got up as slowly as she could so as to not stir Alita awake and pulled the blanket over her shoulders before giving her one more kiss on the forehead./span/p 


	2. Chapter 2

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita sat by the window, leaning back against her chair with her legs crossed. She stared out at the giant wisteria tree that stood in the middle of the garden below and the lavender leaves that carpeted the ground around it. She sighed. How she wished she could be outside and not cooped up indoors with studies. But it wasn't long now; her lesson would be ending soon./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita scanned the library to find something to distract her for a while. By the door, stood an antique grandfather clock, ticking the minutes away. She could almost taste freedom. Her eyes wandered more. The library was quite large, with chairs, sofas and bookshelves that reached the ceiling. The ceiling wasn't too high but reaching books on the higher shelves required the aid of a stool to reach. In one corner by one of the windows, overlooking the garden, the library held another purpose. To serve as Alita's study./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"There by the window, sat a cushioned chair behind a large spruce desk with drawers by the side that stored whatever writing materials she needed. The bookshelves around it were filled with books of subjects relating to math, science, history, languages and even etiquette. Being a lady of the house, she was required to learn all of this and more. But being a lady never quite suited her. She would practice good etiquette for her family's sake but in her heart, she wanted to be free and unshackled./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita glanced over to the chalkboard and to the old lady standing by it, pointing to drawings of house sigils. Her name was Professor Whittaker. She was a head shorter than Alita, grey haired and hunchbacked. She was a teacher at one of the nearby schools but has since been paid by Talia to be Alita's personal teacher. She was to teach Alita about the histories of the greater and lesser houses in Korinth. Alita was skeptical the first time she saw her. She didn't think this old lady could remember the histories that floated in the textbooks. But Alita had been proven wrong. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita had been enrolled in a school before. But she just couldn't fit in. Well, in a school populated mostly by humans, maybe some elves here and there, Alita was bound to stand out as the only Tiefling in the school. There was a mix of races here in Korinth. It was mostly populated by humans, you would be able to find rare pockets of elves and dwarves. But as far as Alita knew, she and her mother were the only two Tieflings in Korinth./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Sure the adults were more accepting of her. But the kids and teenager, well, they were more problematic. Every day at school, a different name was used to call her out. She-devil. Devil spawn. Freak. Filth. All of it had hurt. But she never showed any reaction to any of it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"People will say all sorts of things to sway you. But as long as you know who you are, their words will never reach you./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She never understood that. Words still hurt. But whenever Alita came home, she would pretend and put on a show for her mother, saying everything was fine and dandy. But Talia knew her daughter better. She could lie to some people, but she could not lie to Talia. Talia saw her pained expressions whenever she talked about her school 'friends' or when she was lying about how she got another bruise or cut. And so, Talia decided that Alita would be home schooled./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Milady, were you paying attention to what had just been said?" The old lady asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita snapped out of her daze and looked to the old professor. Though Alita often looked like she wasn't paying attention, she secretly was. Her eyes may have always been wandering about, but her ears were always listening. A skill, that Alita was very proud of./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yes professor. I was paying attention."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""And what was it that I had just said?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You were talking about the lesser House of Ertas," Professor Whittaker beckoned for her to carry on./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""The lesser House of Ertas was founded by Lord Emyr Ertas. A sigil of a sheep's head, standing atop a bale of hay. Their main business in the region is the export of wool and crops. The current Lord of the house is Lord Foxter Ertas. He is married to Lisa Ertas, the woman who bore him two fat little runts that keep trying to step on my tail./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Language milady!" Whittaker scolded./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well it's true," Alita folded her arms and leaned back in her chair./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Professor Whittaker sighed and was about to continue when the clock began chiming. Alita shot up from her chair, rushing towards the door. She wanted to run but she couldn't well do that in a dress and heels./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Thanks for the lessons today Professor Whittaker," Alita waved casually as she reached the door./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Remember to do the readings on the lesser houses for next week's lessons," Whittaker called out after her but Alita was already racing down the halls as fast as she could in heels, to get to her room. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"When she finally got to her room, she closed the doors and kicked off her heels at the foot of the bed. On her bed, the servants had prepared her attire. She slid her way out of the dress and put on the white shirt and leather pants. She laid out the dress neatly then proceeded to put on her riding boots as she hopped to the door. Alita was racing down the hallway past all the flowers and faces on the wall. She even scared a few of the servants who were going about their work./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Sorry. In a hurry," Alita apologized as she ran past them all./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"This wasn't anything new for most of the servants. Most of them just smiled or giggled as she ran, apologizing. She rounded a few more corners then slid down the railing of the main stairs into the ballroom. It was a large and empty room, save for some furniture by the sides and the giant chandelier that hung from the ceiling. The details weren't important to Alita. She had one goal; the main doors, at the end of the room. The sound of her boots on the calacatta flooring echoed in the empty room./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita pushed open the heavy doors, panting. The cool late afternoon breeze flooded into the ballroom. The smell of flowers from the garden around the corner were as sweet as nectar. And there in front of her, were two horses. Talia was already mounted on her mare named Spirit. She was a magnificent creature standing tall, her white coat the personification of purity. Her saddle had bags of food that had been carefully packed for the journey ahead./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Beside Spirit, the head servant Turen, stood holding the reins to Alita's steed, Cookie, named after Alita's favorite snack. Only this time, she couldn't eat it. His coal black coat gleamed and his mane had been carefully groomed by Alita the night before./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""What took you so long?" her mother teased. She wore something similar to what Alita had adorned but its colors were black and purple to match the unique color of Talia's hair./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""It's those heels you got me. I had to walk as fast as I could from the library to my room," Alita answered as she took the reins from Turen. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita nuzzled her horse's neck and scratched his forelock. "Are you ready boy?" she whispered into Cookie's ear. Cookie blew out a snort, his expression of excitement./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well if you em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"really/em wanted to, you could have taken them off and run back barefoot," Talia pointed out./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Ugh! Why didn't I think of that?" She questioned as Turen helped her up onto the saddle./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""So are we done here? Or would you like to go back in with the good professor?" Talia feigned impatience./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Give me a sec," Alita adjusted herself on the saddle and let loose her braided hair, "Now I'm ready."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita nudged Cookie forward with a touch from her knee. Alita led the way out the gates of the estate and they began traversing down the road that led to their estate on the hill. She couldn't let Cookie break into a gallop yet, not until they had hit level ground at least. As they headed down, Alita looked to the horizon and the land that stretched towards it. All of it belonged to her House, or more specifically, her father./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"A few meters from the base of the hill, Alita heard the sound of someone saying 'Hya' which startled her. Alita turned her head just as her mother raced past her down the road, looking back at her, with a sly smile on her face./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Run Cookie! Run!" Alita finally gave him free lead, he surged forward, swift and steady, a black flash across the land./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita chased after her mother. She gave a loud em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Whoop/em as the wind raced through her hair. The crops of the fields to their sides swayed as their horses cut a swath through the air. Talia had gained a substantial lead up ahead with her premature start. Alita cursed. Her mind thinking of a way to gain the lead, but she came up empty. Their two horses were evenly matched in terms of speed. They cleared the fields of crops and up ahead, a three-way fork was coming up./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The path to the right stretched across miles of green hills till it reached the city of Panthe. The path to the left was where they usually rode. It would take them around the animal pastures which housed cows and sheep amongst others. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"That's it./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The path in the middle led straight to the animal pastures. If Alita could cut through it, she just might catch up to her mother. She had never tried it before but she guessed that now was a good a time as any. Talia and Spirit veered left but Alita thundered on straight and disappeared from Talia's view. Up ahead, the pasture's fence started to grow in its size./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Here we go. Cookie! Jump!" Alita hung on for dear life as Cookie's hooves left the ground./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Her stomach floated for a moment before impacting back down, Cookie pressed on without even breaking stride. Some sheep nearby were spooked and scattered to the winds. Alita heard some their panicked bays as they tried to seek safety. The lands ahead were unobstructed and she urged Cookie to travel faster. Alita couldn't see or hear Spirit, quite possibly a good sign./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita continued down the green pastures, past more herds of sheep and cows. Alita listened as hard as she could for any sounds from Spirit but to no avail. But after a while more, she saw a white flash from behind some bushes. It was confirmation to Alita that she had caught up to her mother and that they were now running almost parallel to one another./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The end of the pasture grew closer and Alita saw the route beyond. A short slip path that led to the main road Talia had taken. View of the main road was being blocked by the crowns of the tress, but Alita could still see flashes of white through some gaps. Cookie jumped the fence and followed the path till he burst onto the main road. Alita looked back to see her mother with a surprised look on her face./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita yelled out in triumph there was no way her mother could catch up to her now. She had won this impromptu little race of theirs. The two continued down the road to their destination at the end of it. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: center 225.65pt left 269.2pt;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You see that? I won. I guess I'm the better rider after all," Alita jumped down from her steed and began tying his lead to the nearby fence post./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well aren't we getting a little cocky, who was it that taught you how to ride again? Remind me?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita went over and hugged her mother. "Thanks mom," Alita admitted rolling her eyes playfully./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Most noble ladies rode in carriages wherever they went. It wasn't very lady-like to be seen riding a horse. But much like her mother, Alita had a wild heart within her. She had begged her mother to teach her how to ride a horse. Talia had agreed on the condition that Alita would put more effort into studying./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita and Talia opened up the bags on Spirit's saddle and began laying out their contents, a small picnic mat complete with some sandwiches and a wineskin, containing their homebrewed wine. Alita was allowed to drink some wine under strict supervision from her mother only. They sat there at the top of the hill. The sound of cicadas could be heard from the trees nearby. Nature was the only thing present for miles./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The two sat, bidding farewell to the sun as it dropped below the horizon and watched as thousands of stars shot forth into the night sky. Moonlight crept over the lands, covering it with its pale light as the full moon stood watch. They ate their sandwiches and drank their wine all the while discussing the race they just had./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I was wondering where you went. It didn't occur to me that you would go through the pasture at all. Took us by surprise when you; suddenly burst out from behind the trees like that."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You know me mom, always thinking on my feet."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yes, thinking on your feet but apparently not paying attention in class." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I was too. It just looks like I'm not paying attention. I learn most of this stuff with just one reading. You know that."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at her. "It's just that it's so boring and they keep repeating themselves all the time," Alita huffed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Because they think you're not paying attention," Talia retorted./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia sighed and wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders, pulling her close. "I know it's boring dear. But it is important. When you become lady of the house one day, you'll appreciate the lessons. Believe me I would know."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. Talia kissed her head before continuing. "Speaking of houses, I heard Lord Casta's son, Arum, has been thinking a lot about you ever since the ball that day."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Ugh," Alita squirmed out of her mother's embrace and stretched out on the mat. "He's just thinking about the money he'd get if he married into the family like what dad did."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita's father, Marcus, had been of house Vadum, a very distant descendant of the original rulers of the Empire on the other side of the world. But then, he married Talia and took on her family name of Myrah. In this part of the world, the spouse would take the name of the more dominant house. The house of Myrah was a matriarchy; Talia should have been at the head of the house. But seeing as how she didn't like the pressures of the responsibility, she left it to Marcus, and he has lost himself in it. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia had said that Marcus hadn't always been cold and calculative. He had once been kind, generous and loving, but the influence of power and money had changed him. Alita had never known that man, only the cold shell left behind. Quite frankly, Alita didn't care anymore for the figure that was supposed to be her father./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I may be the heir to our house but I am not ready for marriage," Alita ran her hand along her tail. "What does dad think about this?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""My daughter's happiness should be of paramount importance," Talia tried imitating Marcus's voice./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The two looked at each other and broke into laughter./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Only in Alita's wildest dream would her father even think of saying that. He was probably thinking whether or not the marriage would bring any benefit to the family's wealth or power, or more specifically, his wealth and power./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia lay beside her daughter and propped an elbow. "Well, if you're not going to settle down, why don't you travel?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""And go where?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Just a thought. It is a beautiful world with lots of interesting people out there."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"People here didn't usually travel. They remained comfortable in the confines of their lands and only ventured out if they had business in other cities or nearby states. Alita had never really heard of anyone travelling any further than that before. Alita asked her mother if she had gone to travel the world before to which Talia replied with a wink and a laugh./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"So there were still things that her mother was keeping close to the chest. Alita begged her mother to tell her about the places she'd been to and after some persuasion; Talia finally relented and regaled her with the tales of when she had crossed the seas to a much more foreign land. A land where magic; still existed. Alita scoffed. She didn't really believe that magic still existed or had any use in this world anymore. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""My dear starlight, in case you have forgotten, we were born out of magic," Talia reminded./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"They stared at the stars finishing up the sandwiches and taking turns with the wineskin as Talia recounted her past endeavors. Alita and Talia both loved this particular vintage of red wine. Its dark grapes were grown and harvested right here from the Myrah Vineyards. Its structure was delicate and fresh with a very fruity aroma. On one of her sips, Talia began coughing as if something had gone down the wrong pipe. But even after a few coughs, it didn't subside./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita sat up and rubbed her mother's back. Talia's cough became more severe and she tasted a hint of blood in her mouth. Talia reached into one of her pockets and took out a vial containing a blue viscous liquid. She downed the bitter liquid in one go and a few coughs later, Talia's condition stabilized as the medicine began taking effect./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Mom, I think we should start heading back now."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia didn't argue. They cleared up their things and made their way to the horses. Alita refused to let her mother ride alone. The medicine always made her sleepy and the last thing Alita needed was for her mother to fall of her horse. Alita tied Spirit's lead to Cookie's saddle before helping her mother up onto Cookie and once she was comfortable, Alita climbed up, sitting behind Talia. She adjusted herself to make sure she wasn't crushing her mother's tiny tail. Alita reached forward taking the reins while keeping her mother in between her arms. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Hang on mom. I'll get us home. Home Cookie, take us home," Alita nudged and Cookie began a slow canter back to the estate with Spirit in tow./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"As they traveled, Alita felt Talia's breathing slowed and after a while, Talia fell asleep with her head bent forward slightly. Alita used her arms to support her mother and stop her from falling off the sides. It was a slow journey back to the estate. Every now and then, Alita would look over her shoulder to check if Spirit was still there. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"After what seemed like a long time, they had finally reached the courtyard of the estate. Alita began disseminating different roles to the servants that were there to meet them. Some would bring her mother to get a bath and get changed; another would fetch the family healer from his clinic in the estate and another to bring the horses back to the stables./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The servants went about their tasks. Talia, though groggy, managed to walk on her own to her room. The servants walked close by to render assistance if needed. Alita knew it would take a while for her mother to freshen up and for the healer to inspect her, so Alita decided to take a bath first. She took a short dip in the tub, letting the bubbles pop and fizz around her body. Once she was properly relaxed and satisfied, she dried herself off, got dressed in her night clothes and headed to her mother's room./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The halls were quiet this time of night. Most of the servants would be done with their chores and in bed by now, save for the few that were present when Alita and Talia came home. She walked past the vacant stares of the portraits that hung from the wall and paused a moment in front of her family's, before continuing to her mother's room. The portrait was a newer version with Alita and Talia sitting side by side in matching dresses and Marcus standing at the back in his pristine white suit./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Everyone was smiling so vibrantly in it. But it was all a farce, for others to see. Alita could not stand her father, a man who ignored his family, who wouldn't even acknowledge her unless it suited him. Marcus and Talia rarely spoke nowadays and even slept in different rooms. Talia would sleep in the master bedroom sometimes alone or with her daughter when she came over. She sometimes went over to Alita's room to sleep when she felt lonely. Marcus would sleep in one of the guest rooms closer to his study. He wouldn't even come down to have a meal with his family. It was all brought to his study./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita arrived at her mother's door and she raised her hand to knock it but stopped short when she heard voices coming from within. It was the family doctor, Kaetan. He lived in the estate like the other servants and had his own little clinic too, ever ready should anyone require his assistance. He'd been with the family since Talia was a little girl. But his age had not dulled his mind, or his skills. Alita leaned on the wall opposite the door, waiting./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Not long after, door opened and the two servants helping Talia stepped out followed by the doctor. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Ah, Lady Alita, I was hoping to speak with you,"Kaetan said as he exited the room. The two servants gave Alita a curtsy before taking their leave. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita stepped forward. "How is she?" The medicine the healer gave had helped but from what Alita could see, it only seemed to slow the sickness. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Kaetan Took of his glasses and folded them into his pocket. "She is stable now. The medicine has stopped the effects of the sickness for now,"Kaetan paused. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""What is it Doctor?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""The medicine can only do so much. I'm afraid that it will only be a matter of time before even medicine wouldn't be able to stop whatever sickness that has come upon her. I-"Kaetan placed a hand on Alita's shoulder. "I don't know what else to do."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Despite his best efforts, Kaetan span style="color: #202124; background: white;"was powerless to save Talia he had watched grow up. He told Alita that he had sent word for his friend, a cleric from another land, who supposedly used magic to heal people, to come to the estate and help with the situation but he was nowhere to be found. "I fear the worst has happened to him."/span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita had never met a magic user before, at least not here in Korinth. Kaetan took his leave to inform Marcus of the situation. Alita didn't think it would have made a difference if Kaetan told Marcus or not, but it was his responsibility as the family doctor./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita went up to the door, slowly opened it, peeking her head inside./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""There you are dear, have you washed up yet?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Talia lay in bed with her nose in a book. The moon shone through the open windows, illuminating the room around her with the pale of night. Its layout was not unlike Alita's the main differences were the colors and the portraits that hung on the walls. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""How are you feeling?" Alita asked as she walked towards her mother./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Talia sat the book down by the nightstand and looked at her daughter. She spread her arms open and beckoned her daughter to her. Alita climbed the bed and lay in her mother's arms, careful not to accidentally poke her with her horns./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Talia kissed her daughters forehead. "I'm fine dear. Don't you worry about a thing."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"But Alita was worried. Her mother was lying and she knew it. Even if Talia didn't show it, she was losing this fight. The sickness was getting worse and soon, Alita didn't want to think about what would happen soon but she couldn't help it. She pulled her mother closer and listened to the steady beat of her heart. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Talia sensed her daughter's anxiety. Talia knew that one day; she would lose to this sickness of hers. But until the end of her days, she would give her daughter the love that she deserved and more. Talia placed a hand at the back of Alita's head and gently patted it in a slow rhythm. Talia opened her mouth and let her beautiful voice fill the silence of the night. It was Alita's lullaby, a song of discovery, of life, of comfort, in knowing that even when things become unsettlingly different, some parts of life remain familiar. /span/p 


	3. Chapter 3

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""It is a far better rest that you go to than you have ever known," Kaetan fell silent, tears falling from his eyes as he took a step back./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita stepped forward to the edge of the hole. Her eyes focused on the white flower in her hand. Bright and pure just as em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"she;/em had been. Alita looked around. Servants, family friends, distant relatives, lives that em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"she/em touched, all gathered here under the shadow of the wisteria tree. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Many were gathered one last time, to bid farewell to a star. To bid farewell to Talia Myrah, Lady of house Myrah. She was many things to them, but to Alita, she was a star./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Mother./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"They looked to her. They all looked to her, the heiress of the house of Myrah. There were so many things she wanted to say. She wanted to speak of her mother's kindness, her generosity, her smile, her laugh, but none of it came out. Alita stood there at the edge, a mute, too distraught to speak a final word. Her father should have been there. He should have been here to speak./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"A hand reached her shoulder. Alita turned to see Turen. His eyes red, lips trembling, he had never looked older than he did at that moment. "It's time milady."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"This was her last chance. Alita tried to speak again but not even whispers escaped from her lips. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"No./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""It's alright Milady, it's alright."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita just stood there silent. Turen gestured to the rest of the servants and they lowered the coffin into the ground. Alita looked up, frustrated with herself. She watched the lavender leaves of the Wisteria fall from their branches. It was as if the tree itself were crying. The servants proceeded to fill in the hole. All the while the crowd stayed silent, save for some sobs that could be heard over the rustling of leaves./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita placed her flower on the fresh mound that had formed. She watched as the other servants did the same and soon, everyone gathered had lined up to have their turn. Most of them took their leave shortly after the ceremony had ended. All the servants; save for Turen and Kaetan, had gone to tend to the guests that were leaving, all the while expressing their thanks on behalf of house Myrah for the support that they have shown today./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Where?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Milady?" Kaetan asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Where is he? Where is Marcus?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Milady I don't think that is importa-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Where is my em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"father/em?" Alita spat the last word with such venom./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Turen and Kaetan exchanged glances. "I believe he is in a meeting with the heads of a few other houses." Turen informed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe her father. This was her mother's funeral and with everyone gathered here, he took it as an opportunity to have a meeting? /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"That bastard./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Leave me," Alita instructed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Milad-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Leave me!" Alita raised her voice. Turen and Kaetan took a bow and left without another word./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita dropped to her knees, hands over her face. Where was her father when she needed him? Why was this happening?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Why did you go somewhere I can't follow?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The door creaked open. Dr. Kaetan hadn't even cleared the door when Alita rushed to the old man, demanding an answer. Kaetan simply shook his head as tears began to fall slowly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita stood there frozen. She had her answer. All this time, she knew how sick her mother was, but she never thought-/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She never thought that it would have come to this. Her mother had always seemed so happy, so bright, so invincible and yet-/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Alita, would you come here a moment dear," Talia's voice called from behind Kaetan./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Kaetan stepped aside to let Alita through. She looked at her mother who sat there on her bed, looking so beautiful that it was almost impossible to think that she was terminally ill. Talia smiled and waved for her daughter to come closer./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita sat beside her mother on the bed. "How? How can you still be smiling at a time like this?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Alita, we've talked about this."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I know but I still can't-"Alita couldn't finish her sentence. She was choking up./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia gently pulled her daughter's head to her chest and kissed one of her horns. Alita pulled her mother close. All she wanted right now; was for this moment to last forever. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Alita, we both know what's going to happen," Talia whispered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""No! Don't sa-" Talia placed a finger over Alita's lips./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""It is going to happen. Nothing will change that now. But I want you to promise me something."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita looked up into her mother's eyes whilst fighting back the tears that threatened to break the dam./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I want you to live your own life, make your own decisions. Live it to the fullest that you can. Walk the path that you want to. Go out into the world and discover more about what's out there and honestly, more about you. Will you promise me that?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The dam broke after hearing her mother's final wishes for her. "I love you mom." Alita said amidst tears./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"A sad smile found its way to Talia's face. "I love you my little starlight and I will be there with you; wherever you go, always."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia sat there patting her daughters head. Enjoying these last few moments with her beloved daughter. Her only regret was that she couldn't see the woman her daughter would become. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia passed a later in the night. She had closed her eyes and hugged her daughter as hard as she could as her strength waned until at last, her arms went slack and she stopped moving./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita got out of the bed and began walking, to where? She did not know. She opened the door and walked down the corridor, past the servants who had lined up outside. All of whom upon seeing Alita's vacant eyes, broke into tears. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita continued down the empty halls past the stares of her ancestors until somehow, she ended up in the middle of the garden, under the ancient wisteria tree. Talia and Alita's favorite place in the whole estate. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Under the tree, Alita dropped to her knees and screamed. A scream of sorrow, of rage and frustration that echoed into the night sky./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita swatted away the hands that tried to stop her. Her eyes were red and her hands trembled. She was heartbroken, angry, frustrated and more. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Milady please stop," Some of the servants tried to stand in her way./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"They knew that even if they tried, it wouldn't have stopped Alita. Now, she was a sight to be feared. Most people would have seen a Tiefling on a warpath, but to the servants, she was a girl angry at her father. A father who had ignored her. Who put his wealth before his family. A father who couldn't even attend his own wife's funeral./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita slammed the door open to find her father and a few men sitting by the meeting table with documents strewn on its surface./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Have you forgotten your manners!?" Marcus shot up from his seat at the head of the table./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Never had them!" Alita spat. "And in case you weren't aware, we just buried mom."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I have already said my goodbyes. Now leave, you are interrupting us."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita moved closer, her fists were clenched, her tail swinging wildly, whipping the floor. Red had started to creep into the corners of her vision. "No! I don't believe you. I always knew you were a heartless em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"bastard/em but come on. This is mom's funeral were talking about. I needed you there but no. Apparently, this em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"shit/em takes precedence."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Young lady you will hold your tongue and go to your room this instant!" Marcus began walking towards Alita./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Shut up!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Excuse me?" Marcus seemingly shocked by the language that his daughter was using./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You don't have a clue do you!? How much pain she was in? You spend your days in here with these people talking about nothing! Worrying about your wealth, your lands and your stupid titles that don't mean anything!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""That's enough out of you!" Marcus grabbed Alita's arm and was dragging her to the door./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Let go of me!" Marcus ignored her and continued for the door with Alita in tow./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Let me go./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I said let go!" Alita pushed her father with all her might./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Marcus stumbled forward, releasing his grip on Alita. Alita turned to the nearest lamp on the wall and pulled it free. Her vision was now completely engulfed in red. She looked to the meeting table where her father's precious documents sat and before Marcus could stop her, she threw the lamp./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The lamp hit the table hard, shattering the glass casing. Kerosene began pouring out of the lamp onto the table and a moment later it ignited all at once. The other nobles at the table jumped from their seats and immediately ran out of the room. The servants outside rushed in to try to extinguish the flames with whatever they could use./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"But something had snapped in Alita. An old memory of when Talia was drawing the symbols she called runes, began flashing through her mind. The symbols that were once shifting, swirling and glowing, now began to form a fixed set of lines which burned with a white fire. She felt a power build up inside her and as it reached its threshold, it exploded./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"A shout of pain sliced through the air. Alita turned around to find her father kneeling on the ground screaming. Alita couldn't understand what she saw. Chains of white fire had shot out from the ground, shackled Marcus and seemed intent on pulling him to the ground./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Was that me?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita looked at her hands before looking back to her father who screamed as the chains continued to burn him. Alita's heart was pounding. Her vision had begun to clear. She stood up straight, taking in what she saw in front of her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""He-Help! Somebody help!" She shouted as she tried to pull the chains off her father./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The chains however, did not burn her. It did not feel even the slightest bit warm to Alita. She continued to shout for help as she pulled at the chains to no avail. Suddenly, the chains that held Marcus, cracked and shattered into a million tiny pieces that sparkled like glitter./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I have undone the spell. Tend to his wounds," said a voice from the door./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Thank Yo-" Alita didn't even see it coming./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Marcus's palm found its way to Alita's face. The audible sound of the slap stopped the servants who were still fighting the fire and the ones who were coming to render aid to their lord. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Unbelievable," Marcus started. "Do you have any idea what your stunt cost us?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I-" Alita was still in shock./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""And don't think I'm just talking about money here! Our reputation! Our…our," Marcus sighed exasperatedly as he looked to the documents that had turned to ash, then to the other nobles waiting outside./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You will be punished for this young lady. Now go to your room," Marcus was seething with rage./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""No I wo-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"And again, Marcus's palm hit Alita in the face. This time, he hit her other cheek./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Go to your room now! I have to try and salvage this." Marcus turned and walked to the other nobles. "My friends this is just a little setback. Come let us go to one of the other rooms and continue shall we?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"They disappeared from Alita's sight. Alita couldn't believe it. Even after all that, after Alita had burned his table, after he was almost burnt alive, he was still going to carry on like nothing happened. Alita's cheeks were sore; no doubt they were turning red as well. An arm wrapped around Alita's shoulder and began guiding her out of the room./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita looked up to see Turen. He didn't make eye contact with her. He just kept his eyes forward to the path ahead until they finally reached the doors to Alita's room. He held her in front of him and did his best to put on a smile for her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Come now, milady. Why don't you get washed up while I bring you your dinner?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita nodded and headed into her room. She took her time to have a nice hot bath. She sat there in the tub letting the water warm her skin. Her eyes staring at the water's surface, no tears left to shed. It was quiet save for the sound of water dripping from the rim of the tub./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She listened to the steady dripping of the water all the while thinking of what had come to pass and what lay ahead of her now. No doubt her father would punish her for what happened earlier. Her life would be in his hands, to use how he saw fit. She took a deep breath and fully submerged herself under the water's surface./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita's thoughts were in a sea of turmoil. What was she going to do? Her thoughts turned to anger when her father's face appeared in her mind./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Do you have any idea what your stunt cost us?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She didn't care what her father thought or wanted. She would never forgive him for the things that he'd done. For how, he had treated her mother. For how, he had put his wealth over everything else. Alita did not care for him/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Look at that freak! She-devil! Let's go throw stones at her/span/emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She thought of the people who had been mean to her all her life. People who had called her names, who had made fun of her and those who had hurt her. She didn't care for them./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Those people were shallow. They wanted so much to feel powerful that they took to hurting her, a girl who had no friends her age to play with because they couldn't or wouldn't even try to see below the water's surface. Her mind then turned to the people that did./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"There is nothing wrong with the way you look young miss./span/emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;" em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Anyone who says that to you is wrong and deserves a good scolding./em/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita remembered their kind words. Their encouragement, their smiles and their warm hugs. The people who served the house of Myrah. Turen, Kaetan, Helen and the rest of them. Those were the ones that mattered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"I want you to live your own life./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita broke through the water's surface, gasping for air. She remembered the shining star that had loved her more than anything else. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Walk the path that you want to./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The one who had raised her, who had read her books and sang to her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Will you promise me that?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The one who had mattered the most./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita climbed out of the tub, letting the water trickle down to the floor. Alita had made a promise to her. Alita promised her mother that she would live her life her own way./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Talia meant the world to Alita. Without her here anymore, she couldn't stand to be anywhere near her father. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for her father to make the decisions of her life for her. She was going to do that on her own, just like she promised./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"With a new fire burning in her eyes, Alita had made her decision. She dried off and got dressed, but not in her night clothes. She put on her riding gear and took with her a thick coat to keep warm and a purse of gold coins from her drawers. She ate her dinner, savoring it, knowing full well that this might be the last time she would set foot here. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She stood and stared at the family portrait that was in her room. The one from when Alita had past her first birthday. She looked at her mother, who was sitting on a chair, in a beautiful black dress, with a beautiful smile on her face. Alita tried to etch the portrait into her memory./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Wish me luck mom," and with that, Alita was off./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She sneaked down the halls, careful as to not make too much noise. At this time of night, most of the servants had completed their duties and were off to bed but Alita was cautiously trying to avoid the servants that were still up and about with their duties. Alita needed to get to the kitchen, get a bag and bring some rations with her. Maybe she could bring along some-/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""And where are we sneaking off to this late at night?" Alita yelped when she rounded a corner straight into two servants, Helen and a younger servant, Grisha./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Oh nowhere in particular at all," Alita lied, her tail curling around her leg, an involuntary response when she was nervous. Helen raised an eyebrow, unconvinced./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well, maybe I was headed to the stables? I thought of going for a short ride with Cookie to you know, clear my mind and stuff."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Helen pondered this for a moment, before she looked over to Grisha, waving the young servant to carry on with her duties. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""If that were the case milady why don't I accompany you?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""No yo-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Before Alita could refuse, Helen had already linked their arms together and together they were headed to the stables. This was a problem for Alita. She needed to get those supplies before she quietly left on her journey./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"They reached the stables and together, were putting the saddle on Cookie for Alita's 'short ride'. Her window of opportunity was running out. She needed to get back inside. She had to lie her way back in./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Oh silly me, I forgot something in my room."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Mila-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Don't worry I'll be back in a moment," Alita cut her off and was already walking back to the estate when two figures stepped through the stable entrance blocking her path. Alita stopped in her tracks. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Going somewhere milady?" First was Turen, followed by Kaetan walking towards her with what looked like a backpack over his shoulder. Alita cursed under her breath. Her tail found its place of comfort around her leg once more. Her escape was proving to get even more complicated by the second./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I don't see why one would be so nervous to go on just a 'short ride' as you put it," Kaetan chuckled as they got closer. Alita forced her tail to let go of her leg. She hated how it gave away what she was feeling at times./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita stuttered as her mind tried to think of a lie that would get her out of this situation. She was just about to fabricate a story when Turen wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. It was a hug. One filled with the warmth of the sun./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Turen? What are you doing?" Alita asked perplexed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You're leaving us aren't you, milady?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Wh-what?! What makes you think that?" Alita's heart sank. They knew. Somehow, they found out. Her plans to leave were falling apart now, but she had to make a stand. She had to leave./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"I promised./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"No point in lying to them now. Alita sighed. "Yes I'm leaving. I have to. I promised mom I'd live my life, and I intend to. I will not be caged here waiting for Marcus to make my life's decisions for me." Alita pulled away from Turen. "And nothing you say is going to sto-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Turen took a step back, smiling at Alita as he did. "Stop you milady? You thought we were going to stop you?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yes? I mean why else would all of you come here if not to stop me?" Alita was confused by their reactions to the news of her planned departure./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""On the contrary milady, we are here to help you?" Kaetan stepped forward holding the backpack out in front of him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita stared at the bag, then back to Kaetan. Kaetan began pointing to different sections of the bag. "This is an explorer's backpack. You've got a bedroll up top, a mess kit, tinderbox and rations for about 10 days. A few waterskins, some rope here and some gold coins in this pouch here."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita was not expecting this. Why would they be helping her leave? Surely Marcus would severely punish anyone involved with her escape. This was a huge risk they were taking for her. She slung the backpack over her shoulder, looking at their smiling faces. "Why? Why help me? You guys would definitely get into trouble for this."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Helen walked up to Alita wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Your mother left us instructions to help you. Ever since that day, we've been prepared, keeping a lookout for your whereabouts which wasn't hard to do seeing as how you couldn't even sneak your way to the stables from your room." They all chuckled. "And don't you worry about us. We loved you and your mother more than we fear him. We will gladly face the consequences if it means your happiness milady."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You guys," Alita fought back tears. She turned and hugged Helen. Turen and Kaetan joined in the hug as well. Alita heard sniffling but couldn't tell who it came from. "It's time you left milady," Kaetan prompted./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Kaetan fastened the backpack to the saddle as Turen helped Alita up. Helen had gone up ahead to open the gate. As Turen led Cookie out from the stables and to the main gate, Alita took one last look at the ancient Wisteria tree that now watched over her mother's grave. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Where will you go?" Kaetan asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita hadn't thought that far ahead as of yet. But she thought of herself as resourceful so it wouldn't be that big of an issue if she didn't have a destination in mind. "I don't know. I don't think I really do have a destination in mind."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Turen stopped short of the main gate, fishing for something out of his pocket. "Something to keep with you during your travels," Turen handed her a ring, with the sigil of house Myrah engraved on it and a folded piece of paper. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita opened it to find a bust shot of Talia, one of uncanny likeness. "The ring was your mother's. She never wore it much but it is said to have been passed down from Lady Alaina Myrah, the first of House Myrah. The drawing was done by one of the servants, if you ever needed to see her face."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita held the picture to her heart before putting it in a compartment of the backpack./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She handed the ring back to Turen. "One day, when I'm ready, I'll come back for it."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""And when you do milady, we would be happy to continue to serve you," Turen said smiling./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well looked who decided to show up," Helen called out. But it wasn't directed to Alita./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita followed Helen's gaze, back to the estate. "Woah," Alita exhaled. All the other servants had gathered by the main doors, waving at her. She waved back at them, touched by how much trouble they were willing to go through just for her. All these kind souls would surely face Marcus's wrath when he found out about her disappearance./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""We wish you a happy life milady," Turen spoke on behalf of everyone./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita took a deep breath; the cold night air carried the sweet scents of the garden. She looked to her servants, nodding a final goodbye to them. Gripping the reins tight, she urged Cookie forward. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/em/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She rode forth into the shadow of the moon, looking forward to her future ahead and looking back at the bittersweet memories that were her childhood./span/p 


	4. Chapter 4

Alita rode down the moonlit path, past the fields, the crops, getting further and further from the place she called home. She slowed Cookie down slightly as they approached the three-way fork. She looked at the paths that lay before her. The memory of the impromptu race; flashing across her mind. She smiled. Those were good memories. Those were the good memories that Alita wanted to remember her by. Alita veered right, the other two paths disappearing from her sight not long after as the path took her downhill and stretched forth to the city of Panthe.

The night was silent save for the sound of Cookie's hooves. Alita heard the distant sounds crickets and cicadas occasionally. She rode for a couple of hours more until in the distance the city of Panthe began to reveal itself. Panthe was the main trading hub for the state of Nydrith. It looked like any other city that Alita had seen pictures of. It was where most of the houses brought their goods to be traded, bought or shipped off to a different city. The city was arranged so that the trading hub would reside in the center and surrounding it were the other establishments.

It was a bustling sight in the light of day but in the dark like this, the streets are much less crowded. Everyone was either getting much needed rest from a day bustling with activity or, they were busy getting drunk at a tavern.

Alita had only been to the city a couple of times before with her mother. Coming from one of the richest houses in the state of Nydrith, the people of Panthe often greeted them with smiles and praises as they tried to sell their wares to them. At times, some people were wary of dealing with Tieflings but Talia had shown them such fairness and generosity that it changed their perceptions.

But not everyone was as open minded. Alita could sometimes see the looks that people gave them when they thought nobody was looking. The only reason some traders tolerated them was because they dared not offend a rich customer.

As Alita approached the outskirts of the city, she reached back into the backpack, pulling out a scarf. She wrapped it around her head, creating a makeshift hood to hide her horns. No need to attract any unwanted attention. She tucked the tails of the scarf under her coat and curled her tail around her leg. She hoped her coat and the dark would help hide her tail.

She travelled along a road that took her along the outskirts. The streets were mostly empty. She did pass a few people as she went but they didn't seem to pay her any mind. Alita went along looking for a place to stay. Her eyes were getting heavy. She stopped for a moment in front of a tavern, looking through its window.

It was bight inside and filled with people. Every table was filled with heaps of food and drinks. Some were singing merrily, Alita saw a brawl go down at two of the tables and some were already passed out by their tables, oblivious to the chaos that ensued around them. The waitresses ran about, serving up more food and topping up drinks. They were swamped.

Alita nudged Cookie, getting him to move on. This tavern was bustling and someone would definitely notice if a Tiefling were to walk in.

Even if she did rent a room there, she doubted she could sleep with all that noise. Alita continued on, passing a few more taverns on the way. All were too crowded for her liking. As she reached an intersection, along one of the roads, she spotted a sign that said 'inn'. Alita steered Cookie in its direction and stopped in front of it. It was rather small, being only two floors high and looked a little run down on the outside. She could see some light from a few of the windows but the inn was otherwise quite.

She dismounted from her horse, and stretched her tired muscles. She tied Cookie to one of the posts. There was some hay by the watering trough for Cookie but he would definitely need more. Once satisfied that Cookie was secure, she freed the backpack from the saddle. Alita pulled her hood a little lower as she entered the door. It creaked open to reveal a small reception area that was otherwise empty save for a small reception counter by the stairs that led up to the rooms.

"Welcome to the Dusty's. Will you be staying long?" the receptionist asked as Alita approached.

The receptionist was young and didn't so much as look at Alita. She was either too engrossed in the book she was reading, or just didn't care enough.

"Could I get a room for a night? Oh! And some food and water for my horse outside," Alita tried to sound as polite as she could.

"10 for the room and 5 for the horse."

15 gold pieces for a nights accommodation and food for her horse? Alita couldn't tell if this was the normal rate or if she was being ripped off. She fished out 15 gold pieces and stacked them up on the counter. The receptionists took the gold and without looking up from her book, handed Alita a key.

Alita took the key and said her thanks to the receptionist and started up the flight of stairs. Halfway up though, Alita felt that she could go for some food. Alita asked the receptionist how much it would cost for some food to which the receptionist just sighed and said it didn't matter if Alita payed for the food or not.

Alita shrugged, not knowing what the receptionist meant. She continued up the stairs, to her room. It was very small. It had just enough space for a small chair, table and a single bed. Though there was a window that allowed her to see Cookie. Alita threw her backpack onto the bed then proceeded to sit at the table. A moment later Alita stood up. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the table had a layer of dust on its surface. It did disgust her a bit but she was going to have to get used to it.

She now understood how the inn got its name. It was quite fitting really.

Alita stood by the window, contemplating her next move. She still didn't have a clue as to where she might be headed to. Alita started going through a list of all the towns and cities that she knew of when a soft knock on the door got Alita's attention. She opened the door to find an empty corridor and a tray of food on the floor. Alita shouted her thanks towards the direction of the stairs as she picked up the tray, using her tail to close the door behind her. She opted to sit on the bed instead of the table. There was a bowl of what appeared to be clam chowder and some bread to go along with it.

Alita took a whiff of the chowder and cringed slightly. It smelled off. But Alita gave it the benefit of the doubt that it tasted better than it smelled. She took a small scoop of it and put it in her mouth. She immediately spat it back into the bowl, her taste buds rejecting its foul taste. How could anyone eat that? More importantly, how could the inn charge its guests for this garbage? But then again, the receptionist had said it didn't matter if Alita paid for it or not.

Alita sighed. This was her first realization that life as a traveler would not be as easy as she initially thought. The thought of going back home to a warm bed and good food crossed her mind.

_No. You promised. _

She pushed out the thoughts of home. Alita cleared the bed and brought the tray to the table. She considered throwing the rancid clam chowder out the window but thought otherwise. She took a piece of stale bread and munched on it by the window and was very much surprised when she spotted the receptionist topping up Cookies food and water supply.

However, something else caught Alita's attention. Looking back to the bowl of clam chowder that sat on her table, her face lit up. From what she could remember from her studies, there was a major port in the town of Sa'am that supplied goods to the nearby regions. Alita thought of how all that time spent studying came in handy at a time like this.

_Thanks Mom._

Alita silently thanked her mother for getting her those tutors and making her study. She dusted off the breadcrumbs from her clothes before lying down on the hard mattress of the bed. She lay there remembering the maps she's seen in her books, planning her route.

She had a destination now. She was going to the town of Sa'am and after she got there. She was going to cross the sea and get a proper fresh start. Alita closed her eyes, her body weary from today but her mind fixated on the promise of tomorrow.

***Break***

Alita set off late the next morning, onward to the town of Sa'am. She set a steady pace for Cookie so as to not tire him too quickly and so that she had more time to take in the land. She enjoyed the feeling of the wind against her as she watched the hills roll by. She passed fields of corn and grain; even taking a cob of corn for the road. Alita had planned her route well.

She travelled in the day along her route and in the darkness of night, sought refuge at inns in the towns along her route. People were suspicious of a Tiefling coming into town alone but nobody dared to approach her for fear of the trouble she might bring with her. In the few days since she left Panthe, Alita has stayed at a couple of inns, eating their poorly cooked food, sleeping on their stiff beds. But it was better than one of the nights where Alita was forced to sleep under a tree when the townspeople had chased her out. They didn't hurt her or anything just made their thoughts known, quite loudly she might add.

Sometimes when Alita lay awake at night, all alone in new places, she could feel the call of home creep into her mind. The promise of warm, delicious food and a warm bed ever enticing her. But whenever those thoughts crept in, Alita merely needed to think of Marcus, her father, and all thoughts of home would go receding back into the corners of her mind.

After almost a week since leaving Panthe, she arrived at her destination. Sa'am was well lit even at night. The town's design seemed to revolve around the port. The port and the town were stretched along the coast allowing for more ships to dock and for the different types of goods to be traded at specific docks, making the management of goods and vessels very efficient.

Alita followed one of the roads that led into town and headed towards the docks all the while, keeping an eye out for an inn for her to stay the night. As Alita was passing through the town square, it struck Alita as odd; how it was past midnight and yet the town was still alive with activity. The people there seemed to be too busy with their own tasks to take notice of Alita. Alita could see the docks now. I was even more packed than the town was.

A man jumped in front of them, startling Cookie, causing him to jump. Alita's makeshift hood fell back, revealing her horns.

"Oi! Mate! Read the signs. No riding on the docks! What be your business here?"

Alita swiftly pulled up the hood quickly calmed Cookie down. Alita looked the man over. He was big, probably a head taller than Alita. He had an eyepatch over his left eye and wore a sleeveless shirt that showed the scars that crisscrossed his thick arms. Looking at the man's belt, Alita could see a cutlass hanging in its sheath. Alita guessed that he was a bouncer of sorts; not someone she wanted trouble with.

"Sorry about that," Alita apologized. "I didn't see the signs coming in."

The man was surprised to hear a woman's voice answer him. If he had noticed Alita's horns earlier, he made no comment about it. He shrugged and spoke in a gentler tone, "Well, I guess it happens sometimes. So, what be your business here, miss?"

Alita dismounted from her horse and stepped forward. "Well I'm looking for a ship to take me across the sea."

"Across The Deep? Well there be lots of ships headed out. You could ask the dock master for help if you need. He be over there."

The Deep. Alita had read the name before. It was used to by sailors to describe the sea between the continents. Alita tied Cookie down to one of the nearby posts and headed in the direction the man had pointed to. As she walked the docks, she saw all manner of goods being brought down from the ships. There were ships that brought down exotic fabrics from far off lands. Some brought in what looked to be ores of metal and some were even hauling livestock in.

But what caught her eye were the mechanical contraptions that they used to help unload the ship's cargo. It was a crane. Equipped with a hoist rope, chains and sheaves, it is used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. Alita had read about them in books before but to see them at work was interesting to say the least.

"Can I help you, miss?" Alita was so engrossed by what she saw that she had almost passed the dock masters little booth.

"Never seen your face around here before. What business are you in?" The dock master was a rather small man and sat there in his booth flanked by two burly men that had a similar getup to the man that had stopped her previously. He was a busy man. Every few seconds, someone would come up to his booth and ask for his signature or approval on a document. But despite all that, his sharp eye had managed to catch Alita.

"I'm looking for a ship to take me across The Deep," Alita tried using their lingo so as not to stand out too much.

The dock master sighed. "Be more specific. Almost every ship here be crossing The Deep. What be your purpose to cross it?" The dock master was quite clearly getting impatient.

Alita fell silent. She was running away from home, but she shouldn't tell people that.

"Looking for a ship miss?" Alita turned to see a scrawny man, approaching her.

He looked about Alita's age, and was just as tall as she was. His eyes were the color malachite, matching the bandana he wore. Alita noticed a scar running down the side of the man's cheek. The man walked up to the dock master's booth, standing beside Alita. He looked at her. Alita could feel his eyes trying to peer behind the hood. Alita adjusted her coat to make sure her tail couldn't be seen.

He passed the dock master a piece of paper to which he signed. "I'll take her off your hands then." The dock master grunted and shooed them away. The man left, motioning with his head for Alita to follow. Alita caught up to him, thanking him for his help.

"Nah, don't mention it. But I should mention, we do expect to get paid for this. If you're okay with that, then welcome aboard."

"O-of course. I wouldn't have it any other way. But I have to ask. How much is that going to cost me?"

"Not sure. You're going to have to take that up with the captain. Oh I'm Brian by the way," Brian extended his hand to which Alita shook while answering with her name, but not her full name. She was careful about revealing which family she came from, no telling if anyone here knew her family. If there were, they would probably be wondering why the heiress to the house was out here all by herself so far away from home.

Brian led the way along the docks. As the night progressed the docks seemed to get a lot busier. Brian explained that the shipments would usually come in the wee hours of the morning. People would then buy the things they wanted and have it shipped off immediately so that it could arrive at its destination by late morning.

Brian pointed out the awkwardness to which Alita navigated her way through the crowds. Alita laughed at his observation. It must have looked worse than Alita imagined. Besides all the balls and social gatherings back home, she never had to deal with crowded places before. Brian finally stopped at one of the docks. Throwing his hands up in the air, he presented the ship.

"Wait a second. Your ships called 'Smooth Sailing'?" Alita wanted to laugh at the ridiculous name.

"Well, sailors are a superstitious bunch so they name their ships after the good things they want in life," Brian explained. "We'll be headed out in the morning so get your affairs in order before then, Miss Alita"

"Just Alita is fine," Alita looked around for landmarks to find her way back to the ship later. "Say, do you happen to know of a nice quiet inn I could stay the night?"

"An inn?" Brian looked puzzled. "You're gonna be sleeping on the ship for the next few weeks so you might as well start now."

"Good point. One other thing, I kind of forgot to mention it just now."

"Yeah?"

"Do you have space for a horse? Well my horse to be specific."

Brian thought for a moment. "Well we do have the space below deck. It's going to cost you extra, but I don't think you'll have any problem paying for it."

"How do you mean?"

"Well I figured you for a noble with the way you dress, your posture, how you talk. What? Was I wrong?"

Well, he wasn't. Alita didn't really blend in as well as she thought she did.

"Most nobles I've met are pompous assholes, usually want people to know who they are and stuff. Never seen one hiding behind a hood before," Brian cocked his head to the side.

"It's complicated," Alita answered softly.

"Isn't it always," Brian started to head up the ramp to the ship. "I'll go get the place set up first while you go get your horse."

Alita headed back the way she came, awkwardly navigating her way through the crowd. She found Cookie where she had left him, the bouncer too busy informing another bunch of newcomers about rules that needed to be followed. Alita untied Cookie from the post and led him down a road in town that ran parallel to the docks. Dragging Cookie around on the docks would have been a nightmare for her.

As she walked, she passed by a couple of people standing in front of what looked to be the town's notice board. She paid it no mind at first; until she saw what the people gathered were looking at. Right there in the center of the board was a bounty poster with a reward of 3000 gold pieces. Quite a substantial fee. But what got her attention more was that the face and name that were on the bounty, was hers.

Alita hurried off. She knew her father had to notice she was gone after a while. What she didn't expect was that he would put a bounty on her just to get her back home. She kept her head low, searching for the landmarks that she had spotted earlier at the docks and when she finally saw them, she changed directions and headed in the for the docks.

She got up the ramp with Cookie and found Brian talking to a few of his shipmates. Alita didn't think that Brian had seen the bounty yet. If he had, why would he invite her onto the ship? Unless of course, this was a trap. Alita shook her head. Her argument made sense but if she was going to be paranoid, she might end up not trusting anyone to get her across the sea.

"Alita! Over here," Brian waved her over and excused himself from the conversation he was having.

He picked up a lamp led her to the midsection of the ship. Beside the huge cargo doors, there was a ramp that led down below. As Brian led the way, Alita looked around. The ship was much bigger than what it looked like from the outside. There was a lot of space in the midsection which Brian explained was where they kept their wares for transportation.

After going down a few floors, they finally reached an area that looked like a makeshift stable.

"Sorry about the state of things. This is the best I could do on such short notice," Brian explained. "There's some hay over there, don't worry we have more on the way. We don't have watering troughs but do you think a bucket would work."

"Yeah I think that would work. Thank you Brian."

"Well don't mention it milady," Brian did a playful curtsy.

"Don't do that," Alita looked around to make sure nobody heard or saw them, paranoid after seeing the bounty.

Brian laughed at her reaction. Lamp in hand, he moved to get a better look at Cookie. "I've got to admit, I was surprised when you said you had a horse. Don't see a lot of ladies going around on horseback in these parts. How'd that happen?"

Alita remembered when she had just gotten Cookie, how she had been so happy that day. She just couldn't wait to sit on the saddle and ride off. She remembered the one who had taught her how to care for her horse, how to ride.

_Mom. _

"It's compl-"

"I know, I know. It's complicated. Well if you ever want to uncomplicate things just call me out. I love listening to stories."

Alita nodded. Any suspicions she had that Brian might have an ulterior motive for helping her were gone. He really was a nice guy. She hasn't yet had anyone to talk to about what happened in the past week. It was a nice gesture. She might actually consider taking him up on his offer; eventually.

Alita retrieved her backpack from the saddle and they began to move back up to the deck when Alita heard two loud thuds coming from overhead. Moonlight began shining through to the lower decks. The cargo doors at the midsection had been opened up and Alita could hear shouting coming from above deck.

As they reached the deck, Alita watched as a crane was bringing in bales of hay in a cargo net. Two of the burly shipmates that Brian had been talking to earlier were busy guiding the cargo into the cargo hold while the other gave directions to the crane operators.

Once the net had landed safely in the cargo hold, the two shipmates detached it from the crane, hefted a bale each over their shoulders and began bringing it down to Cookie's makeshift stable.

Alita started heading back down the ramp to the cargo hold. She figured if they were going through this trouble for her, she might at least help them out.

A hand found her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. "Um, where do you think you're going milady?" Brian questioned, letting go of her hand.

"To help out?"

Brian laughed at Alita for a moment. "No offense milady but I don't think you'd be able to carry anything. You know since your so, you know. Tiny."

"Tiny? We're the same size," Alita argued.

"I know. But if you really want to, go ahead. I'll be watching from here."

Alita turned and was about to continue down the ramp when she saw the same two shipmates coming back up to grab more hay. They were grunting with exertion as they lifted the bale over their shoulders. The hay was heavy, even for these men that were more than twice her size.

Maybe Brian was right. Maybe she wouldn't be strong enough. If that were the case Brian just stopped her from making a fool of herself.

Not wanting to openly admit Brian was right, she turned and began massaging the back of her neck. "On second thought, I think I'll leave the heavy lifting to them. It's been a long after all. Muscles are aching and all."

Brian bowed low, hiding the smug look on his face. "Would the lady like to retire to her room now?"

It annoyed her that he refused to stop treating her like nobility out in the open when she was trying to keep a low profile. She simply folded her arms and followed Brian to the aft of the ship. Close to the captain's cabin, there were a flight of stairs that led down below. Brian led her through narrow corridors and down a flight of stairs. There in the corner was Alita's room.

Brian opened the door to let her in. It was small. A lamp hung on the wall by the door. Providing a little light to the room but Alita's eyes were quick to adjust. The ceiling was low, just a few inches above her head. There were two beds at each corner of the room and a space in between them just enough for two people to walk side by side. Their wooden frames had been bolted down to prevent them from moving.

"I know it's a lot smaller than what you're used to but the other rooms are already occupied by the rest of the crew and some other passengers as well. Seeing as you're the only lady aboard, I thought you'd like a room to yourself."

Alita put down her backpack by the foot of one of the beds and sat on it. The mattress and pillow were a little stiff, but the sheets seemed clean and the room itself was a lot cleaner than she had expected.

Alita looked over to Brian. "This is fine. I've had worse."

"Get some rest milady. Captain will be here in the morning so remember to pay up. Oh and one last thing." Brian took out a folded piece of paper. "Take a look and try to think of a destination. I marked out most of the ports I could remember. It's a bit hard for us to bring you somewhere if you don't know where you want to go."

Brian handed her the paper and closed the door behind him as he left. Alita took off her boots and stretched out on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't believe it. After a week of traveling she finally made it to Sa'am. Now she was just a ship ride away from a new begining.

_Hope you can see me mom. _

Alita opened up the folded piece of paper that Brian handed to her. It was a map of the world, much like the ones she had at home but this one had markings here and there to indicate to her where the ports were. She studied it, looking at nearby cities or terrains that were by each port. Alita must have been more tired than she had realized for in a matter of minutes, her eyes had shut and she fallen fast asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita woke to the sounds of shouting in the morning. She sat up, yawning as she stretched. She looked around the room. It didn't seem like anyone had gone through here while she was asleep. She could hear the sound of feet shuffling on the boards above her head. Alita pulled the backpack to her, taking out the coin purse and one of the waterskins. She took a few sips of water from it to wet her throat before proceeding to splash some of it on her face to freshen up. She took a deep breath, thinking about what lay ahead. She may be on a ship headed out. But she's not out of the woods yet, so to speak. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita opened the door slowly and poked her head into the corridor. It was empty at the moment. The other doors in the corridor were still closed shut. Alita made her way up to the deck, coin purse strapped to her belt. As she walked, she adjusted the makeshift hood of hers and wrapped her tail around her leg. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She had slept in longer than she thought. The sun was three fourths of the way up to its highest point. Alita had to shield her eyes as they slowly adjusted to the sudden brightness. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Had a good sleep did you, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"milady/em?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita groaned as she turned to see Brian grinning with a mop in hand. It was too early in the day for her to be dealing with Brian. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yeah. I guess I was more tired than I thought."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Oh don't worry. It's bound to happen when someone of your status goes about traveling on their own." Brian paused to dip the mop into a bucket. "We should be pushing off by mid-day."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita nodded. "Is the captain in yet?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Aye he's in. He's in his cabin," he motioned with his thumb to set of doors a few meters away./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita walked over to the double doors, taking a moment to straighten out her clothes. She knocked on the door and waited. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Come in," came the reply./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita opened the door and slipped into the room, making sure to close the door behind her. The captain's cabin obviously had a lot more space to it than the rest of the crew's quarters. Daylight shone in through the windows, revealing an assortment of furniture in the room. There were cupboards, tables, chairs, and chests of varying sizes. In the center of the room was the captain's desk. A medium sized cherry wood desk with what looked like a very large chart and navigational tools atop its surface. In front of it were two small chairs which she reckoned were for guests./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The captain stood hunched over the chart, making markings on it with the quill in his hand. He had the physique of a bear. Alita wondered how on earth he managed to navigate the narrow corridors of the ship. His face was hidden by the tricorne he wore. She took a few steps closer to the desk and waited for the captain to address her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well? What can I help you with?" The captain's gruff voice boomed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I'm here to give payment for your services," Alita answered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""And what service would that be?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Transportation."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The captain looked up from the chart and studied Alita. Alita could now see his aged face. His long hair was mostly the color of ginger with some strands of grey showing. His full, ginger beard had been braided at the ends. The captain stepped around the table and gestured for Alita to sit in one of the chairs in front of the desk. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The captain walked to one of the small tables by the corner of the room. "Tea?" he asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yes please," Alita moved to take a seat./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"A shrill chirp made Alita jump. She watched as an eagle came to rest on a stand by one of the open windows. It was a beautiful dark brown, with some grey on the inner wing and tail, and an almost golden color on the back of the crown and nape. Its head darted around as it surveyed the room. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""That's Makani," the captain said as he walked over and handed Alita her cup of tea/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""She's beautiful," Alita graciously accepted the cup. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The captain walked back to his chair. Alita could feel his eyes on her. Alita's tail wrapped a little tighter. The captain sat in his chair with a sigh. He took a sip of the tea from his own cup./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Do you know who I am?" the captain set his cup on the table and leaned forward, his fingers interlocked while his elbows rested on the tabletop. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I do not believe we have had the pleasure of introductions," Alita took a sip of the tea, savoring it as it warmed her insides and relaxed her. Her tail loosened its grip. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Good tea I take it?" Alita nodded her approval. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well then, allow me to introduce myself. Captain Jedrek. As you surely surmised, I am captain of the Smooth Sailing. Been sailing these seas most my life; seen all sorts of people too. Care to elaborate as to who you are miss..?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"After seeing the bounty last night, Alita considered lying about her name but thought otherwise. She didn't know if Brian had already informed the captain about her or not. Where Alita was raised, it was extremely disrespectful to not introduce oneself properly. Talia had often said that while the eyes may have been the windows to the soul, the names they bore could sometimes tell you a bit of what a person was like. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita took another sip of tea before gently setting the cup down. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Captain Jedrek. My name is Alita. I will be a passenger in your care for the duration of this journey."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I have not agreed to take you as a passenger yet. I still do not know why you are running?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Um, running?" Alita's heart sank. She didn't like where this was headed. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yes running. There's a substantial bounty on your head."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita faked a laugh. "Captain, I think you might have the wrong person."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Don't do that. I hate it when people lie to me. The name on the bounty is yours and despite you trying to hide it, you are clearly a Tiefling, a rare breed in these parts. You want my help; you tell me why the house of Myrah wants you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita remained silent. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You are clearly nobility. This makes it all the more interesting. So, what'd you do to piss off the great em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Lord Myrah/em?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The way he said; em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"'Lord Myrah'/em. Alita had the sense that Captain Jedrek didn't like her father very much. She had no choice than to reveal the truth. Alita hoped that Captain Jedrek disliked her father enough to help her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita removed the makeshift hood from her head, letting the scarf dangle loosely around her neck, revealing her horns beneath. "My name is Alita Myrah."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Lord Myrah is looking for me because I am his daughter and heiress to the house of Myrah. And also because I ran away from home," Alita continued. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Captain Jedrek leaned back into his chair, massaging his temples. Alita made a mental note that he did not seem surprised to see Alita's horns. He pondered for a moment before speaking. "Then I am afraid I will have to take you back home young one."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""What? No! You can't, please! I can't go back there. Not after-" Alita shot up from her seat. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Not after mom's death. /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Mikani chirped loudly and flared its wings out, perhaps sensing Alita's agitation. Captain Jedrek held out his hand to stop Mikani. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""My crew are like my family. If one of them were to go missing, I'd be worried. I would understand if you have problems with your father. Gods know I don't like him or trust the man."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Captain Jedrek got up and around the table. "But how could you do this to your mother. How could you make her worry like that?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Mom? /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""It doesn't matter what you've done. Family is family. Your mother is a kind soul. She'd forgive you for whatever it is you've done. I'm sure of it," captain Jedrek knelt beside Alita, still towering over her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You knew my mother?" Alita asked. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I did, yes. This is why I cannot condone you making her worry like that." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Captain, I don't think you've heard. But my mother passed a week ago," Alita informed, her chest aching. This was the first time she was talking about her mother's death to anyone. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Jedrek's face was blank for a moment. He lumbered around the room until he finally came to a stop in front of Mikani. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I am sorry to hear of it young one. Your mother was different. Well different from most other Tieflings I've met. It's hard, trying to change what others think of you," Captain Jedrek paused. "But your mother had showed the people she met, such fairness, kindness and generosity that it changed their hearts. She taught people to look past what they saw on the outside, to find the person underneath. The world was a better place with her in it." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""It was wasn't it," Alita smiled./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita regaled Captain Jedrek with the tales of her childhood, of how Talia had raised her and made it a life worth living. Captain Jedrek had turned away as Alita struggled to talk about Talia's last words, her passing and the funeral. Alita could have sworn that Captain Jedrek had shed tears then. But he turned around laughing when he heard of how Alita had interfered with her father's meeting. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""So you can see captain, I cannot return home now. I made a promise and I've come this far, I can't go back now," Alita pleaded. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Captain Jedrek's face was stoic, unreadable. He went to the doors, beckoning for Alita to follow. "Nobody in the right mind would let an opportunity to garner favor with the great em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"lord/em of house Myrah slip by. The man is rich and can bring good business if he likes you. Returning you home to him would definitely be good for business." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"He was right about that./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Captain Jedrek led them out of the captain's cabin and out to the deck. Brian walked up to the two of them smiling energetically, unaware of the situation at hand. "Captain! We have clearance from the dock master and the wind on our side."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Captain Jedrek turned towards Alita. He clasped his hands behind his back and sighed. "You've come a long way from home young one; and you're about to get further."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita couldn't hide her surprise. Was the Captain saying what she thought he said? /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Release the mooring lines, once we're clear lower the sails and take us out," Captain Jedrek barked orders./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Aye captain," came the chorus of replies./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Each crew member jumped to their tasks. Some of the other passengers were on the deck to witness their cast off as well. Alita jumped forward and hugged the bear of a man that was the Captain. Captain Jedrek struggled as he awkwardly returned the hug. Some of the crew chuckled quietly as they watched their Captain's awkwardness. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita took a step back after sensing the Captain's awkwardness. She began to reach for her coin purse but Captain Jedrek held up a hand. Despite Alita's insistence and discomfort, he refused the payment. She didn't feel right about not paying for him for his help./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""This is a kindness I do for your mother. I owe her that much at least," Captain Jedrek admitted./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"He held out his hand in front of him and called out for Mikani. Alita watched as the beautiful creature landed on the Captain's thick gloves./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Do you want to touch her?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita nodded and slowly reached her hand out to it. She had never seen an eagle from this close before, much less touch one. Would it bite her? Would it panic? Would she herself, panic? As she got closer to it, Mikani moved her head into Alita's reach. I was soft and smooth. Alita was overjoyed at being granted this new experience. Alita continued to stroke her head. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""I do not think you know this young one. But Mikani here was a gift to me; from your mother," Jedrek pointed out./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita's hand stopped mid-stroke. Her mother's words racing through her head once more./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"I love you my little starlight and I will be there with you; wherever you go, always./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"In a sense, another part of Talia was there with her in the form of this eagle. Alita smiled to herself and continued to stroke Mikani's head./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"There was a sudden tug that caught Alita unawares. Captain Jedrek caught her to stop her from falling over. He let out a hearty laugh, as did most of the other crew. Most noticeably, Brian./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Young one, you need to find your sea legs. Otherwise you'd be tripping over for most of the journey," Captain Jedrek continued laughing./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita didn't know what sea legs were but she laughed along at her clumsiness together with the rest. The sails had caught the wind. That was what had caused the sudden tug. Alita and Jedrek began to walk to the bow of the ship. Captain Jedrek was spouting orders to his crew as he walked by. When Alita got to the bow, she was surprised at how fast they were moving. The wind whipped through her hair and coat. She closed her eyes, extending her arms out. She imagined this was what it might feel like to soar through the air as Mikani did./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Is that what I think it is? A em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Tiefling/em? Seriously? I guess they'll let anyone aboard," a voice whispered from behind./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita opened her eyes and turned. She didn't know who had said it but Captain Jedrek seemed to be staring down one of the passengers. Alita looked around. The other ten or so passengers were staring at her horns. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Her coat still hid her tail but she had forgotten that she had lowered her hood earlier when talking to Captain Jedrek and she had forgotten to put it up again. Her hand immediate went to pull the hood up again but Captain Jedrek placed a hand on her head, stopping her from doing so./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The Captain shook his head with disapproval as he spoke. "I can see that in many ways, you are like your mother. Brave and free spirited, with a kind heart. But she never hid what she was and neither should you. Do not hide who you are. Embrace it and you will grow, young one."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Never forget who you are./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She looked at the other passengers. The Captain was right. This is who she was. This was her life and she was going to live it how she liked. She removed the scarf from her neck and tied it around her waist. Captain Jedrek nodded his approval of her actions. He turned and walked back towards the aft of the ship. Alita tailed him. But instead of heading back into the captain's cabin, he headed up the flight of stairs that led to the quarterdeck. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita arrived to find Brian at the helms, grinning. "You look much better when you're not hiding behind that hood of yours, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"milady/em."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita rolled her eyes chuckling. She leaned over the railing by the wheel, looking to the rest of the ship. The crew were busy with their tasks; some of the other passengers began to move back to their cabins, while others stayed to enjoy the view of the sea. Alita looked beyond the ship. It was nothing but blue skies and ocean ahead of them now./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""So, young one. Where might you be headed to?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She turned around, still leaning back against the railing. "Argus."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Argus city?" Brian questioned./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita nodded. Brian was about to speak again when Captain Jedrek placed a hand on his shoulder./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""It's a little out of the way but we'll make it work for you young one," Captain Jedrek spoke./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"After a while, Captain Jedrek decides to leave and heads back to the captain's cabin./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Is Argus really that much of a ways off from here?" Alita asked Brian once the Captain left./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""It is. But that's not the issue." Alita cocked an eyebrow unsure of what Brian was referring to./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""The waters around Argus have got some pretty nasty monsters," Brian explained./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita scoffed. "Monsters? As in monsters with like fangs and claws?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You seem unconvinced," Brian pointed out./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yeah well I've only ever read about them in books. I'm kind of a see it to believe it kind of person."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Really? Then all you need to do is look in the mirror." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita shot him a look./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Oh sorry. My bad. I guess we're not there yet," Brian apologized./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita began laughing. She hated to admit it but it was a good one. She'd never heard that one before. Brian laughed halfheartedly. He wasn't really sure if it was alright for him to laughing along with her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita hadn't laughed like that in a long time. It was nice. It certainly took her mind of the things that happened the past week. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""See. Its feels good to laugh doesn't it?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yeah. I guess it's not so bad," Alita admitted./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""If you ever need to talk or have a laugh, remember, you just need to ask," Brian reminded her of his previous offer./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Alright then, so what do you do for fun around here?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"It would be quite a few weeks before they would reach Argus city. As Brian had informed her, they would be stopping at multiple ports to drop off the other passengers and if they are able to, pick up a few more along the way./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita couldn't stand to just sit and wait in her room for the duration of the journey. Especially since the Captain had refused her coin. So, a few days into their journey, she had made up her mind to repay the Captain for his help in other ways. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"It started off with small things at first. She helped to clean the makeshift stable where they kept Cookie, her horse. She then would help the cook serve food to the crew and the other passengers. The captain usually had his food in his cabin so Alita took the role of being the one to deliver his food. Captain Jedrek was surprised the first time he saw her bring his food to him. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Sometimes, he would ask Alita to stay for a bit as he ate and regaled her with the stories of his youthful adventures. He even told her of how he and Talia had met and how they had travelled with each other for a bit. Her mother was quite the tourist. He was quite happy to see that Alita no longer wore the scarf or coat that hid her horns and tail. He praised her decision./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"As the days went by, Alita added on to her responsibilities. Much to the captain's protest, besides cleaning Cookie's stable and serving food, she began helping with the ships chores. Learning the ins and outs of the ship, how to tie knots and even how to steer and navigate the ship. She learnt quickly and soon became an extra hand on board. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She progressed to help the cook to prepare ingredients and cook the food that was to be served to the others. The cook happily welcomed her help in the kitchen. He often complained about doing everything alone but with Alita's help, he seemed a little happier./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Mikani loved Alita for one simple fact. Alita always had a treat for her. All Mikani had to do was fly down to Alita and nudge her until she finally got Alita's attention and Alita would whip out some meat she had gotten from the kitchen and feed the majestic bird. Captain Jedrek said that Alita was spoiling her too much but Alita couldn't help herself. She never had a pet before./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The rest of the crew had taken a liking to her too. They never had a passenger help with things that were usually the job of the ship's crew. They welcomed her to their table when they ate their meals. As time went on, she learnt their names and listened to their stories, which fascinated her. They reminded Alita of the stories from the books that her mother read to her as a child. They told of how they braved the storms, defended their ship from pirates and monsters. Each one of their stories were an attempt to outdo the other. But not once did anyone say they were braver, mightier or stronger than Captain Jedrek./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Aye, the Captain's a mad bastard. Most of us here owe him our lives," admitted Drakkar as he ate his dinner./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Each of the crew present began telling of the heroics of Captain Jedrek and how he saved the day. Some of it seemed so farfetched that she didn't know whether to believe them or not. But the crew seemed to believe it, so she decided she would too./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Now, we've been doing the talking all this time. What about you young one? What's your story?" asked Rexton./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Most of the crew had taken after Captain Jedrek and began calling her 'young one', even if they were just a few years older. All except Brian who insistently got on her nerves by calling her milady and occasionally treating her like nobility./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Oi Rexton! We don't ask. Remember?" Brian reminded as he came back to the table with as second helping of food./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""No it's alright. I think it's time I talked it out anyway,"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita never thought she would ever make friends with outsiders. But they treated her like one of their own, despite her horns and tail. They made her feel welcome. In a sense, they made her feel at home./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"She began telling them her story. Although it wasn't filled with tales of heroism or bravado, they listened with the utmost intent. Her heart ached when she told them of her mother's passing. It was getting easier to talk about it. It seemed like the more she opened up to people about it, the easier it got for her to move on. The crews paid their respects in their own ways. Some patted her on her back; some remained silent while others raised a drink, a toast to those passed. They all cheered loudly as Alita spoke of how she had set her father's table ablaze. When she concluded it with how she got onto the ship, they all applauded and cheered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita chuckled embarrassed. "Guys please it wasn't all that interesting."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""That's where you're wrong young one. These are the stories of who we are and how we came to be. These stories are far better than any of those filled with danger and adventure. They remind us of who we are," spoke Drakkar. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Yeah, I guess they do," Alita agreed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well I say what matters more are the people you're with," Rexton got up and stood on the table. "And the ale you drink!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The other crew roared their agreement, raising their mugs. They ate, drank and sung the night away as their ship pushed on to their destination./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"As the night went on, Brian had moved to sit next to her. "Well em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"milady/em, what do you think of this merry crew of ours?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""An odd bunch for sure. But I could get used to this," Alita replied./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""You've certainly learnt a lot haven't you?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita nodded. "But I've still got a ways to go."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Oh yeah? How so?" Brian raised his mug to his lips/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Alita looked at him. "Well I still don't know how to fight yet," Alita indicated to the cutlass hanging on Brian's waist./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Brian did a spit take into his mug, coughing. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"Drakkar had overheard their conversation. "You hear that boys? She wants to learn how to fight!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;"The crew cheered and laughed. In her head, Alita imagined herself a seasoned adventurer, braving the wilds, facing the monsters everyone spoke of, just like she dreamt when she was a child./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; letter-spacing: .1pt; background: white;""Well, you better ask the captain about it. But seeing as how you're his favorite, it shouldn't be a problem./span/p 


	6. Chapter 6

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Alita, you got a minute?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita followed Brian as he led her out onto the deck. Alita shielded her face from the sun's rays. Alita had just finished preparing the ingredients for tonight's dinner when Brian interrupted her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Brian led her to the middle of the ship and called out to Drakkar/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Oi Drakkar! It's time for her lessons!" Brian shouted out./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Lessons? What lessons?" Alita was confused./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Drakkar walked up from the bow of the ship. He had a long wooden pole in one hand and an oar from the rowboat in the other. As he drew closer, he threw the oar at her. They all watched as it clattered to the ground when Alita failed to catch it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You're gonna have to be a lot sharper than that young one,"Drakkar called out./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Brian what's going on?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Well, you said you wanted to learn how to fight did you not?" Brian inquired from the sidelines./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Yeah I do. But the captain sai-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""I told you, you were the captain's favorite and I meant it. He's got a soft spot for you," Brian pointed out yet again./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita's mind went back to the night before. She had just finished serving the rest of the crew their dinner and was headed to deliver the Captain's meal. Brian had been waiting for her by the door to the Captain's cabin./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Despite being the captain's favorite, Brian believed that the Captain would not readily agree with her request and she would need some backing up./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Though the Captain was grateful for Alita's help, he was still unhappy that she was doing chores on the ship. He had said that a lady of her birth should not be doing such things. Alita disagreed. Doing these chores had taught her to be thankful for things that she usually would have taken from granted. Before this, she had never needed to clean her own room or cook her own food. But now, she appreciated the things that her servants did for her even more./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Captain Jedrek was surprised to see Alita and his first mate, Brian, walk in at the same time. The Captain got up from his chair and began clearing the table to make space for the meal Alita had brought for him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita placed the tray of food on the table for the Captain then went to sit on the chair opposite to him. Brian was leaning on one of the columns behind her. He mouthed the words good luck when Alita turned to look for him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""So young one, is there something I can help you with?" The captain asked as he began munching down on his food./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""There is captain. But-"Alita was thinking of the best way to sweet talk him into agreeing./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Say what's on your mind," the Captain's words were almost incomprehensible with his mouth stuffed with food./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Captain you have shown me such kindness and warmth since we left Sa'am. And in a way, you've been more of a father to me than my own flesh and blood." The captain seemed to blush at the praise that he was receiving. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Which is why I thought it best if I asked your permission first," the captain nodded for her to continue./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Here we go," Brian commented softly behind her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""I want to learn how to fight." Alita declared, mustering as much courage as she could behind her words./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The Captain choked on his food and began to cough violently in an attempt to clear the food out of his airway. Alita moved to help but the captain waved her away./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""No! Absolutely not!" The captain declared after he could talk again./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Captain plea-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""No young one. I will not allow it. What use would you have of it?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""I was thinking about self-defense, Captain," Alita answered respectfully./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Me and the crew are perfectly capable of protecting you. We've defended against pirates and monsters before and you can bet that we will do it again," the Captain boomed and walked to the window./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"He stood there, looking out as the moonlight danced atop the water's surface. He remembered the times when Talia, Alita's mother, had travelled with him. She was an adventurer at heart, yearning for the sights and experiences that the world provided. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You can travel the world without the need for a sword. Just as your mother did," Captain Jedrek spoke softly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The room remained silent for a while before Alita stood up from her chair and bowed. Alita had meant what she said. Captain Jedrek had been more of a father to her than Marcus ever was. She felt guilty for asking this of him. "If that is your wish Captain. If I have made you angry, please forgive me. It was never my intention to do so."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"With that, Alita walked out of the room leaving Brian alone with Captain Jedrek./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Captain Jedrek sat back in his chair with a sigh. He rubbed his temples as Brian moved to the seat that had been recently vacated./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""That young one, reminds me of her mother," Jedrek spoke./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""And that's a bad thing captain?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""No it's just that-"Jedrek thought of the words to say. "She's a noblewoman. She shouldn't be doing this."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""She shouldn't have run away from home but she has. She shouldn't have rebelled against her father but she did. She shouldn't be out here adventuring like her mother, but she is Captain," Brian paused./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Captain, she's come a long way and it's my guess you want her to go further?" Brian questioned Captain Jedrek who nodded his answer./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""She won't be with us forever. Once we reach Argus she might very well be traveling on her own. There might be situations where she might need to defend herself."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Let's not think too far ahead. Getting to Argus itself we might face some em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"difficulties/em. Wouldn't you feel better if she knew how to protect herself?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Jedrek sighed even harder whilst shaking his head./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You're like a father to me, to her, quite possibly everyone on this ship. Whatever you say, we will listen and obey," Brian stood to leave./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"As he opened the door, he looked back at the captain. "You may not like it captain. But, a great man once told me; sometimes it may be hard and you may not like it but, it is for the best."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""And who told you that?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You did."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Brian what's going on?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Well, you said you wanted to learn how to fight did you not?" Brian inquired from the sidelines./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Yeah I do. But the captain sai-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""I told you, you were the captain's favorite and I meant it. He's got a soft spot for you," Brian pointed out yet again. "But he can't argue with himself."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"A bear-like figure stepped in front of her, bent down and picked up the oar. Captain Jedrek balanced it in his hand and held it out in front of him, for Alita. "If you're going to learn to fight, might as well do it properly."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita's face lit up. She took the oar from him, holding it in her hand. "Thank you Captain. Thank you so much. You won't regret it. I promise," Alita gave Jedrek a tight hug./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Don't thank me young one. Thank Brian for convincing me."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Brian?" Alita looked over to Brian who with a flourish, bowed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita smiled to herself. He was irritating, annoying and got on her nerves most of the time. But he did have his moments./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Training will be hard young one. You will train how I tell you to and do what I tell you to do. You will get hurt. You will bleed but there will be no backing out. Are you sure you want to do this?" Captain Jedrek delivered his terms./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Without hesitation, Alita gripped the oar tighter in her hand. "I'm sure."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Jedrek sighed. "Very well then. Your training begins now. Do as I do."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Captain Jedrek stood in a stance in front of her. Alita followed suit. The Captain began correcting her stance. Once that was done, he thought her how to hold her weapon. In this case, a long oar./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Captain, I don't mean to sound ungrateful but why am I using this heavy oar again."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""It is heavier than it needs to be, to make you strong. If possible, I wouldn't want you to take a life. But I understand that sometimes, it cannot be avoided. Until that time comes, you will use non-lethal weapons, to train and knock your opponent out."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita nodded her understanding and buckled down on her training. She focused all of her mind and did as she was told. Her mother used to point out how unfocused she was during her studies./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"I wish you could see me now mom./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"When she woke up in the morning, she would do exercises to strengthen her body. Before dinner she would train with Captain Jedrek and anyone that would volunteer to help. Although Alita still helped with preparing the ingredients for dinner, the cook still missed her help with the actual cooking of dinner itself./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"First she was taught the stances and how to hold her weapon. Then, Captain Jedrek taught her how to move. To be agile, avoid attacks and flank an opponent. The volunteers to her training would try and hit her with the wooden pole and she would have to avoid them./span span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Almost all the crew, some passengers and occasionally Mikani, the Captain's bird, would watch as she trained. Most of them watching were busy placing bets on whether or not she would get hit during the practices./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She did in the beginning. She was slow, got hit a lot and true to the Captain's word, Alita bled. But she was a quick study. Always had been. After enough time, she was dancing around her training partner./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Once she was ready, Captain Jedrek taught her how to defend herself using the oar. He drilled into her techniques and combinations that she could use to defend and counterattack. Hours turned to days and days to weeks. With discipline and focus, Alita had changed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Her body was stronger, her mind sharper. She dressed, walked and talked even more like the crew, though never forgetting her roots or the people that got her there./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita sat in the crow's nest, staring at the waning sun as it slowly dipped below the horizon. She was usually getting ready to serve up dinner at this time but one of the new crew they had picked up in one of the ports, volunteered to do it this time. Alita had been out here for weeks now. She'd seen the passengers she left Sa'am with arrive at their destinations and in their place, new faces boarded. It felt like she'd been out here for a very long time now. But now, finally she was almost at her destination. From the look of the charts, they were almost to Argus. Maybe a few days away if the winds were kind./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Her hands played with the ends of the scarf tied around her waist. It was the same scarf she had used as a makeshift hood when she ran away from home. It felt like a lifetime ago. She wondered how the servants were doing. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""You feeling excited em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"milady/em?" A head popped up from the ladder that led to the crow's nest./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita looked over her shoulder to Brian as he reached the top and sat beside her, a bottle in hand./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Nervous more like it," Alita replied./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""You could stay here you know," Brian offered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I wish I could but I can't. You know this."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah I know the promise you made your mom; to go out into the world and discover what's out there. I know." Brian handed the bottle to Alita who took a swig of it. "You could do that from our ship."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""But we never stay at any port long enough to explore. All I see are the docks," Alita pointed out before taking another swig./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Well then. At least you can say you've travelled and seen every dock."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita chuckled as she elbowed Brian /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Brian was fidgeting in his seat. "I've heard some people say that I come off as irritating or annoying sometimes but it's only becau-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Bri I know. Nobody here reacts as much as I do to your jokes or teases." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah well if I've ever crossed the line, I'm sorry."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""No you're not," Alita laughed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""No I'm not," Brian agreed and laughed along with her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"The sun had now completely set below the horizon and in its place; the white face of the moon began to light up the waters. The two of them watched from the crow's nest as the stars began to reveal themselves onto the night sky./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""You're gonna miss having me around," said Alita, breaking the silence./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah I am."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita got up, dusting her pants. "Don't get all sentimental on me now."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Psh. I don't even know the meaning of the word em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"milady/em," Brian said as he followed Alita down the ladder./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"As they descended lower, they heard the merry singing of the crew below deck as they enjoyed their dinner. Alita and Brian were about to head down when they noticed that the helmsman was none other than Captain Jedrek./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"The two of them walked up the stairs instead and stood beside the captain as he steered. They had a little bit of small talk before the Captain begun to tell a story of his youth. At some parts they laughed and cheered but in the back of her mind, Alita was only thinking of one thing./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"How am I going to say goodbye?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita had come to hate goodbyes. She just didn't know what made it so difficult. Maybe it was because she had gotten so comfortable and close with the people here. Here she could be herself, not need to hide what she was or who she was./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Young one, why don't you go grab some food down below," Captain Jedrek said snapping Alita out of her thoughts./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Would you like anything Captain?" Alita asked as she headed towards the stairs./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Not at the moment. Go down and enjoy yourself young one."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah I'm good too thanks for asking," Brian interjected./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita rolled her eyes. "Well I didn't ask you now did I?" Alita chuckled as she disappeared from their sight./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Captain Jedrek and Brian were left on their own up above. The two looked at each, tense. Brian's hand hovered over the pommel of his sword. His eyes scanned around their surroundings. Jedrek and Brian had heard it for quite a while now. Brian guessed that was the reason he sent Alita down below. She hadn't seemed to notice it /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"It was a voice. A woman's voice to be exact. Singing a debilitatingly beautiful song which echoed in the long night. Jedrek and Brian had heard it before. Though its voice were as if the heavens itself were singing, they feared the creature behind it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Sirens. Beautiful women with claws, gills and tails. They may sometimes be mistaken as mermaids; until they revealed their fangs, dragging you under the water's surface. Stories told by sailors said that you could hear the screams of the victims as the sirens ate them alive, even though they were underwater./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"It sent chills down Brian's spine every time he thought of it. He looked over to Captain Jedrek. He stood there, stoic, his fire unwavering. It gave Brian the strength to be brave too./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"They were almost there now./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Gird your loins! The captain shouted to the crew on the deck./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Everyone was stumbling about as the ship pitched and rolled in almost every direction. The dark shadows of the storm had blotted out the sun, the dim lights from the lantern doing almost nothing to provide light. The winds were a hurricane that whipped the sails. The rain pricked like hundreds of tiny knives. Bright flashes of light cascaded down from the sky momentarily lighting the deck./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"The captain fought for control of the ship as the crew moved to secure the rest of the equipment on the deck. They had switched to the storm sails to give the Captain some power to steer and to keep the boat in balance./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita stood beside the Captain, hanging onto the railing for dear life as a wave splashed onto the bow. She was cold, wet and terrified. She had no idea how the Captain and Brian kept their cool beside her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Can we even see where we're going?!" Alita shouted over the howling of the wind./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""We need to get to open water! Otherwise we might end up on a reef!" Captain Jedrek answered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Captain Jedrek fought for control as another wave crashed onto the deck of the ship throwing some of the crew on their backs. That last wave also dislodged a row boat that had been previously secured onto the deck. It began to slide about on the deck, threatening to crush anyone who was unlucky enough to be in its path./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Get that secured now!" Brian shouted as he headed down from the quarterdeck./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita felt useless up on the quarterdeck. She needed to do something. She stumbled forward after Brian as the ship rolled on its side. She had just reached the stairs when the ship suddenly lurched forward. Alita tried to catch her footing but the wet stairs proved too slippery. She slid down the stairs on her butt. It would have made for a funny sight but everyone had more important things to think about./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Brian was already trying to move the row boat back into its position. Beside him were Drakkar and two other crew members. They struggled to stand on the slippery floor as the ship continued to pitch and roll. A hand grabbed Alita's arm and pulled her up. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Get moving," Rexton helped Alita along towards the rowboat. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Whoever else that was on the deck were already there trying to help. Alita and Rexton arrived and immediately tried to find a part of the boat that could be used as a handhold. It took seven of them to lift the row boat and get it moving back into position./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Secure it!" Brian shouted as two of the crew began to grab the ropes to secure the rowboat while the others held it in place./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Brace yourselves!" the Captain's words barely reaching Alita./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Another wave splashed down onto the bow of the ship as Alita tensed up her body and braced herself. The rowboat shifted slightly as the crew tried to push it back into place and get it tied down. Brian was busy yelling at the two to hurry it up. Beside her, Rexton cursed out loud, "By the devil's beard! I must be seeing things again."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Rexton was looking towards the bow of the ship where the wave had hit. Alita followed his gaze; her eyes were searching for any damage the ship might have incurred from its last impact. Instead, she saw a bunch of humanoid figures standing there./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"That's odd./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita looked around her. All the crew that had been on deck was here helping to secure the boat. So it begged the question, who was over there? The others hadn't noticed yet. Rexton's hand had begun reaching for his sword./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Bri?" Alita called out./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Brian was too busy helping to tie the knots that he didn't hear Alita. A flash of lightning overhead lit the deck in white light for an instant, which was enough for Alita to get a good look at the figures. She couldn't believe what she saw. It was as if the tales of monsters that her mother used to read to her had come to life. The creatures stood like a person would but were green skinned with dark stripes and spots. It had many fish-like features like webbed feet, hands and gills on their necks. They seemed to have webbing on their elbows and where ears would normally be. Alita couldn't confirm it but it looked like they had finned tails as well. The creatures began to move forward towards them./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""BRIAN!" She shouted louder this time./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Brian's head shot up and followed Alita's gaze. He saw them and without hesitation, drew his sword. "SAHUAGIN!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"The rest of the crew stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction Brian was pointing. They drew their swords as the Sahuagin drew theirs. There was stillness in the moment as both sides waited to see who would act first. A Sahuagin at the front held his sword high, as he charged, leading the others behind him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Brian and the rest of the crew charged as well. Alita was the only one left holding onto the row boat. She didn't know if the boat had been properly secured yet. Her mind focused on taking in the scene. It was chaotic. Swords were clashing. She heard roars and shouts, some of anger; some of terror and some of pain. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was looking at real life monsters right now./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita saw that one of the crew had already gone down, slashed across the chest. She couldn't see who it was. Too many people were moving about for her to have a good look. The Sahuagin stepped on the chest of the fallen crew member and roared its triumph to the storm./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Bastard! /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita couldn't just sit there and watch. Brian and the rest still fighting. She had to do something. Alita backed away from the battle, towards the stairs where she kept her oar. This was what she had been training for. This was it. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Alita! Go down below with the others!" Captain Jedrek ordered/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I can fight!" Alita pulled the oar from under the stairs./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""No!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"She didn't know if she could kill one of those things with an oar but she could sure give it a good smacking. Alita had to do this. With or without the Captain's permission. She twirled the oar in her hands before charging forward./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""ALITA! NO!" his shouts grew further as she entered the fray./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"She saw Rexton fighting one of the creatures on the outskirts. She came up behind it and hit it at the back of its knee, forcing it down on one knee. The Sahuagin turned its head to greet the new attacker. It barely managed to get out a roar before Alita smacked it in the face with her oar, stunning it. Rexton took the opportunity to stab it with his sword multiple times. He gave a quick nod of acknowledgement to her before moving off./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita did the same. Her eyes darted through the battle as she searched. She found a lone Sahuagin who like her, was searching. The two locked eyes as they slowly made their way to each other. The Sahuagin lunged at her when she was in its range. She parried the attack while sidestepping away. She cursed as her feet slid over the slippery surface of the ship. The Sahuagin turned to her faster than she had expected and did an overhead strike with its sword./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita couldn't react fast enough to get out of its trajectory so all she managed to pull was to hold her staff over her head to block it. The sword chipped the thick oar's shaft. If it came down to strength, that thing could definitely overpower her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Think. Think!/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"The ship lurched forward and another wave hit the deck. Not only did it throw everyone in different directions, it also put Alita in a very difficult position. She was now on her back with the Sahuagin pinning her down. The only thing stopping it from ripping Alita's face off with its teeth was the oar's shaft that Alita had shoved into its mouth to stop it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"It was so close to her face that she could smell it. It smelled like rotting fish. It tried to roar with the oar in its mouth. She couldn't tell if it was spittle or rain that hit her face. But, it suddenly made a gurgling sound and reared up a little. Alita saw that there was a knife in the side of its neck. It was Brian's knife. She'd recognize that snake heads pommel anywhere./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Thanks Bri./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"She reached for it and with a jerk, pulled it out. The Sahuagin sat up as it's hand went to try and cover the open wound that was now spurting blood, the oar falling out of its mouth and clattering beside them. While it was distracted, she took the opportunity to stab it multiple times in its midsection and chest. It roared in pain and stumbled away from Alita as the fear of death took hold./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"The Sahuagin reached the edge of the ship and jumped off, back into the dark depths. To retreat or to die, Alita did not know. She had the knife in on hand and picked up the oar in her other. Alita took the time to catch her breath as she scanned the battlefield./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"She finally spotted Brian. He was fighting another one of the Sahuagin. She began running towards him to help but halfway there, Brian finished the monster off by cutting its head clean off. Their eyes met and Alita held up the Brian's knife and shouted thanks to him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Brian grinned. He had saved her life and there was no way he was ever going to let that down. The ship began to roll to one side again. But this time, Alita had felt it coming. Instead of falling all over the place, she managed to get a good footing and remain standing, sliding only a meter away. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"She grinned at this small triumph of hers. Alita heard someone shout her name a few times. It sounded like Brian. Alita searched but when she found him, his smug expression had disappeared and was replaced with one of panic./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita heard something else, but couldn't quite place what it was. She heard groaning sounds as something slid around. It was coming from behind her. Was it another one of the Sahuagin? No. She didn't think it was. This was a different sound entirely. And it was growing louder./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Alita turned to face the sound but as she did; her legs were knocked out from under her. The knife and her oar flying from her hands. It was the damn rowboat that had been sliding around before the battle. That answered the question of whether or not the boat had been secured properly. Alita landed in the rowboat, knocking her head against one of the wooden planks that they used for seats. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Her head began to spin as the world got dizzier and dizzier. Her vision began to grow narrow as she began losing consciousness. Alita heard people shouting as the rowboat continued to slide about. She heard the shouts of Captain Jedrek, then Brian. All she could do was hang on for dear life. She felt the boat hit a bump followed by that weird sensation in her guts as the rowboat freefell before it impacted the waters below./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"The last thing she saw was the ship silhouetted by a flash of lightning as both her mind and the rowboat drifted further away./span/p 


	7. Chapter 7

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The sun was high in the clear blue sky, its rays warming everything it touched. She lay on a bed of warm soft sand. The constant rhythm of the waves were soothing to the ears, therapeutic. Her only complaints were the damn seagulls could be heard as they scavenged the beach for food./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"This is nice./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Something stood beside her face, covering part of it in its shadow. It erred on the side of caution and probed her with its beak. When it saw no response, it moved closer and began to grab at strands of her hair, trying to pull it off./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Okay. That hurts./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She moved her hand to her face to get it to stop. It squawked in surprise at the sudden movement and flew off to a safe distance. Alita groaned as she tried to push her body up from the sand. But all she managed was to prop herself up on her elbows. She grabbed a fistful of the smooth sand and watched as it fell through her fingers./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Sand? Wait where am I?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita was suddenly very aware that something was wrong in this picture. Adrenaline began coursing through her veins, giving her a little boost. She mustered enough strength to sit up and face the waves. She shielded her eyes from the rays up above, her head feeling a little dizzy. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita tried to recall the memory of how she got there. She remembered the storm. Then, the battle with the Sahuagin. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""The boat," Alita remembered as she stood up wobbly and scanned her surroundings. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Behind her, there were some coconut trees that led to thicker vegetation, and shade. There were miles of soft, white sand to either side of her but no row boat. The damn row boat had quite literally, knocked her off her feet and carried her overboard in the middle of the battle. But she didn't remember anything after that, only darkness./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita turned her focus to the water and after a moment, she found what she was looking for. The row boat had carried her most of the way only to sink just before it reached the shore. The waves must have pushed her the rest of the way./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita moved to take shelter under the coconut trees. Aside from being a little wet and sandy, she was surprisingly in good condition. Sure her legs were a little bruised from the impact with the rowboat. But it was bearable. Her eyes continued to search the water for any sign of life or ship what was passing by. Her thoughts went back to the battle. She hoped the others aboard the "Smooth Sailing" were okay. Sure they were tough, but they weren't invincible./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita was worried about them. But right now, she needed to worry about herself. She's alone, here on what she assumed was the huge island that Argus city was on, since that was the only landmass anywhere near them when the storm hit. If she was going to survive, she needed to formulate a plan./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Short term plan; find food, water and if possible, shelter. Long term plan; get to higher ground to get a better view. Find a town or village. Heck she would have settled for roads since roads would generally lead somewhere./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita had some food around her at the moment. Coconuts. Alita untied the scarf that was on her waist to use as a holder of sorts. She began walking around, picking up coconuts, sloshing their contents about to make sure that there were liquid inside. Captain Jedrek had taught her a thing or two about survival. He had shown her how to husk a coconut but for that, she was going to need something sharp./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""AHA!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She found a broken branch from one of the trees further inland. It was about the width of the oar she had used and the wood seemed to be pretty durable too. The important bit was that the place where it had snapped off was sharp enough to help Alita. But it the branch was a bit too long to be dragging around. After a few attempts, Alita broke of the extra bits of the branch off and what was left was a makeshift spear that she could use to get food and fend of wild animals if needed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita dug a small hole in the ground, putting the blunt end of the spear in before filling the hole back up, leaving the sharp end of the spear jutting out. She set a few rocks she found down at the base to stop the spear from moving around so much. She grabbed one of the coconuts, raising it in the air before slamming it down onto the sharp end of the spear. It pierced through the exterior of the husk, weakening it and from there, Alita just had to peel of the rest of the husk with her hands./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Once that was done, she turned the coconut on its side and repeated the same action as before. But this time she used just enough strength for the spear to make a hole. The coconut's juices began to spill out of the hole and Alita rushed to bring the coconut to her mouth./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The juices were sweet and refreshing. Once she had drunk all the juice, she split the coconut open using the spear again. She used her teeth to peel off the flesh that lay inside, savoring the taste. She repeated the process on a few more coconuts till she had her fill. Then began husking the other coconuts she picked out for the journey ahead./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She could carry about 8 husked coconuts in her makeshift bag. She would have to ration herself carefully. She didn't know when she would find civilization again. The husk of the coconuts would have been great to bring along with her. She could have used them to start a fire and stuff. But the problem was, nobody had taught her how to make a fire since an open flame was the last thing anyone wanted on a ship./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She looked up to see where the sun was. She needed to get a move on while there was still light. If she stayed at the beach without a fire when night came, the winds coming from the inland would freeze her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita checked to make sure her makeshift bag was properly secured, shifting it slightly to a more comfortable position. She grabbed her spear and headed off in the direction of the mountain she could see in the distance./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Progress was a lot slower than Alita had anticipated. As she went further inland, the vegetation got much thicker. Alita moved at a pace she was comfortable with, making sure to make as little noise as she could. All while paying extra attention to her surroundings for any signs of civilization; or danger. Alita would rather be slow, silent and careful rather than fast, loud and reckless and telegraph her location to predatory animals nearby./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita continued trekking towards the hill and after a few hours, night had fallen. Though Alita could see quite well in the dark and she decided to rest instead of pressing on. She had to pace herself if she was going to survive. After all, it was a marathon, not a sprint./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita didn't know how to build shelter for herself so the best she could do was to find a natural shelter. After looking around for a bit, she found a small rock out cropping. It had an overhanging bit that could shelter her from rain if it came./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita looked around the area, under rocks and into crevices. The last thing she wanted were bugs or critters crawling over her as she slept. Once satisfied, she found a comfortable spot and tried to get some rest. Despite the hard ground, it wasn't that bad. Alita tried to go to sleep but her mind was deep in thought./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She worried about the crew of the Smooth Sailing, people she had come to view as family. She thought of Cookie, her horse that she had brought with her aboard the Smooth Sailing. It was then that she remembered. She had left behind her mother's signet ring and the drawing of her mother. All she had from home now were the clothes on her back and the scarf which she now used as a bag to carry the coconuts./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"After a few hours, Alita finally drifted off to sleep albeit a troubled one. The later it went into the night, the more the temperature dropped. The ground under Alita began to cool and Alita was left shivering while she caught glimpses of sleep./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"After a cold night, the warm rays of the sun were more than welcome. Her body ached after spending the night on the cold hard rock. Alita continued on her search, stopping to drink or eat from the coconut if it was absolutely necessary. Her search still yielded no results. She still hadn't reached the top of the hill yet. As the sun began its descent, Alita began looking for shelter. This time she brought with her some huge leaves that she would later use to separate her from the ground. It wasn't going to make that much of a difference but she'd do it anyway./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She found another rocky outcropping and began checking it once more for critters and the likes. She laid down the leaves on the spot she had chosen to sleep. As there was still light, she decided to go and get more of those huge leaves that had fallen from the nearby trees. After a while, she now had a couple of layers of leaves between her and the hard rock. Night came and this time, she wasn't as cold as she was the night before. Alita got her much needed sleep and the next morning, she was feeling much more refreshed. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She pushed on up the mountain and finally arrived at its summit a little after mid-day. The vegetation wasn't as dense at the top so she managed to see quite a distance. She sighed as she took a breather under the shade of a nearby tree. She didn't see any roads or small towns much to her disappointment. There was a hill across from where she was and between them, was a river that ran steadily./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita sat there thinking. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't disheartened. She thought of going down and scaling the hill but after looking at what was left of her rations, she doubted she would have enough if she were to descend down then up again. She could try to the river she saw. If she followed it upstream, it could hopefully lead her to a small town. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Hopefully./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita gathered her things and headed off towards the river. The descent down was a little faster. She got into the habit of looking out for more places which she could use for shelter if the night drew close. Alita managed to make it down to the river by the second day. On the bright side, she had a constant supply of water and she did see some fishes in the river too. Alita didn't know if she could eat raw fish but if she was desperate, she'd give it a shot./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The only downside there was to following the river was the lack of shelter. When night came, she took refuge by the trees, using leaves to make a soft bed for herself. She was preparing to go to sleep when she caught a small whiff of smoke in the air./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Something was burning. Alita moved to more open ground and began searching for its source. There, quite a distance upstream from her, she caught sight of flickering lights. Someone had made a campfire there. Alita was beyond words; her luck hadn't run out after all. She decided to grab her things and head towards the campfire. She was afraid that if she waited till morning, whoever was there would have already left and finding them again would be even harder./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Moving in the dark was no problem for her. Her eyes always seemed to adjust well to the dark. She followed the river up towards the campfire. Her heart was pounding with excitement. As she closed the distance she could see figures moving about the campfire. Alita began shouting and waving her hands to get their attention./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"As she ran closer, she noticed that there was a cage wagon nearby to their campfire. It might have been a group of poachers or a bunch of hunters out gathering food. She did not care. Bottom line was that she found people. Very big people. Very big and furry people./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Oh shit./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita was about 60 feet from them when she stopped and had a good look at them. They stood at about 7 feet tall. Their skin was greenish-gray and their furry hide a light or dark brown hue marked with spots and stripes. They also had a dirty yellow to reddish-gray crest-like mane. One of them began cackling a sinister laugh./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""More food. More food good," it spoke in broken common./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The others around it were joining in the laughter. Alita counted 5 of them. All she had to defend herself with was a sharp walking stick that she used to husk coconuts. There was no way she'd stand a chance against them. If she stayed and fought, they'd probably kill her. If she ran back the way she came, those creatures would certainly catch up to her. She had one other option that just might work./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita bolted at an angle perpendicular to the river, straight for the trees. Her plan was to hopefully lose them in the trees. That was if she didn't tire out first. She was running out of energy since she spent most of it running towards them when she thought they were people that would help her, not eat her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita didn't turn to see if they had given chase but judging by the excited cackling, they did. Alita had just gotten to the tree line when from behind the tree in front of her, one of those creatures stepped out with a club raised in its hand./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita was too surprised and the creature was too close For Alita to react in time. The creature swung and the force of it knocked Alita down, unconscious./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"strongspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita woke face down on a wooden floor. She could feel the pain from the wound where she had been struck. Her back was warm, meaning the sun had come out. She sat up, trying to get her bearings when it hit her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"A putrid, horrid smell. It was the smell of rotting, decayed flesh that invaded her nostrils and clung to her like a parasite. Alita began wrenching as she looked around her, realizing she was surrounded by disembodied arms, legs, torsos and heads. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""What wrong she-devil? You sick?" The creature that had spoken the night before began cackling, causing a chain reaction that caused the rest of the creatures to cackle in suit./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She was locked up in the cage wagon which was on the move. She was trying to look for a way out but her mind was stuck on what she smelled and saw/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""It's no use," a voice spoke from behind Alita./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The voice had scared Alita, causing her to instinctively move away from the sound. She had thought she was the only one in here. Well, the only one alive at least./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"There in front of Alita, sat a girl who was about her age. She was covered in dirt, grime and filth. Her body was frail. She looked like she hadn't eaten in a long time. But it was her eyes that caught Alita's attention. Her eyes were scared, exhausted and utterly void of will./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""How long have you been here?" Alita asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""I've stopped counting," the girl answered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""What's your name?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The girl let out a soft chuckle. "It doesn't matter. We'll just end up as food. Just like the others."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita looked around her at the assortment of body parts, remembering what the creature had said before they chased her. These must have been the leftovers from their past meals. Alita stared at the eyes of the girl that sat in front of her. Her apathy was infectious. Alita could feel her own will begin to shake./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"I didn't come all this way to die here. /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita got to work. She began discretely looking around the cage and their surroundings. They seemed to be following the river. There were a total of 6 of the hyena looking beasts around the cage wagon which was being towed by a single horse attached by ropes. They talked to each other with a series of barks and yips./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita hadn't found a way out of the cage yet. But if she could get out and get the horse free. She might have a way to outrun those hyenas. There was however, one snag in that plan. Alita wasn't the only one in the cage./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita couldn't just leave her. But Alita had a feeling that the girl was too far gone to do anything for herself, including escape. Alita sighed. Sooner or later, she would have to make the decision to try and save the girl, or save herself./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"When night came and the cage wagon finally came to a stop, the girl began to shuffle as far away as she could from the door that led into the cage. She began curling up, trying to hide herself. Alita moved back too, she thought it best to lay low and observe./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"One of the hyenas headed for the tree line, probably on guard duty. One of the hyenas had just gotten the fire started when the door to the cage unlocked and opened. There stood two of the hyenas, spears in hand. The one in the lead, who had a nasty scar where his left eye should be, was the one who had knocked Alita out. The smaller one behind it was the one that talked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The lead hyena skulked over to Alita and bared its teeth in front of her face. It's hot, stinky breath hit her and she cringed away from it. The two hyenas barked at each other for a moment./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Scarface say he happy to eat you," the smaller one spoke./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The smaller one then moved to the other girl in the cage and began sniffing her hair. The girl began to shiver and cry which caused the hyenas to laugh with glee. Well, they were all laughing with glee./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You sleep good now. You be next food tomorrow," it told her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The two hyenas gathered a few of the leftovers from their previous meals and left the cage, making sure to lock it behind them./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""See I told you," the girl started between tears. "We're just walking meat."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"strongspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The sun had started to set and the group had begun searching for a place to make camp. In the day, Alita had tried to get the other girl to try and cooperate so that they could both escape but she had already resigned to her fate./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita was in it alone. When they came in to grab the girl, Alita would act docile and obedient but the moment they turned their back to leave the cage, she would grab for one of their spears, kill the ones that got in her way, grab the girl; even if she wouldn't help herself, free the horse and run./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita went through the steps again and again in her head trying to think of as many possible ways it could go and how she would react to them. As night descended upon them, Alita moved to the back of the cage and took in her surroundings once more. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"One had gone into the tree line on guard duty. There were two, trying to get the fire started, and the other two, were just on time to open the cages./spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" span style="color: #202124; background: white;"Alita curled up and kept her head down. Scarface stepped into the cage with the one that talked behind him. Scarface headed for the girl, sniffing her. He turned and barked a few times./span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""He say you ready for eat," said the smaller one./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Scarface grabbed the girl by her hair, causing her to whimper in pain. He began dragging her out of the cage./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The other one came up to Alita and said, "You be food for us soon."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"As it turned, it began laughing, causing the chain reaction that it usually did. Alita saw her opportunity while everyone was laughing and sprang into action, disarming the hyena. Its laughter stopped abruptly as Alita thrust the spear into its neck./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Its expression turned from glee, into one of panic as it realized what had happened. Alita wasted no time. She pulled the spear out and rushed for the cage door. Scarface had just gotten out of the cage with the girl in hand. Alita jumped out of the cage and swung the spear, aiming to lodge it in Scarface's skull./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"It fell short and sliced him across the face, over his one good eye. Scarface fell to the floor, screaming in pain as he brought his hands up to his face to try and stop the bleeding. Alita grabbed the crying girl who was now free from Scarface's clutches./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Get up. GET UP!" Alita dragged her up and began moving towards the horse. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita helped the girl up onto horse before trying to free it from the ropes that connected it to the cage wagon. Alita had just raised the spear, about to cut the ropes when she heard the girl shout./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Watch out!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"A big hand grabbed Alita by one of her horns. It pulled her up into the air for a moment before slamming her down into the dirt. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Scarface/span/emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita's horn hurt, as did her body. But she had to get up and fight. Escape was so close. Alita raised her right hand to stab Scarface again. But he was not having any of it. He thrust his spear into Alita's right shoulder. Alita shouted in pain as Scarface began twisting the spear. She lost her grip on the spear as Scarface brutally nailed her to the ground./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita couldn't move. The energy in her body had begun to fade away. But her eyes were still taking in what she saw around her. The girl on the horse had her hands over her face, probably crying. Scarface stood over her and screamed his triumph or anger to the stars./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"But that wasn't all. She heard a voice. It spoke in common. But her mind was too unfocused to make out the words. She turned her head towards the voice. There,/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; color: #202124; background: white;" just coming out of the treeline,/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;" stood a hooded man with his bow drawn. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Fyzal had to admit, the girl had guts, but horrible timing. After Trent had silently taken out the guard posted in the woods, they had been sneaking slowly towards the edge of the tree line. The plan was to take them by surprise./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"But that changed when the Tiefling girl tried to make a daring escape. Now all the Gnolls were on alert./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""So much for that plan," Edward whispered beside him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Fyzal raised his bow, knocked an arrow in and drew. Edward did the same beside him. One of the Gnolls grabbed the Tiefling by her horns and threw her to the ground and moved behind the horse, just out of his line of his line of sight. All he could see now were the Gnoll's legs and the Tiefling girl on the ground. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"A scream escaped the Tiefling's mouth as the Gnoll nailed her to the ground./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Shit he's gonna kill them," Edward cursed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Go loud! Get their attention on us!" Fyzal burst out of the tree line and moved to get a line of sight on the Gnoll on the other side of the horse./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"He heard two arrows fly through the air on his left and shouts from the 2 Gnolls by the fire. He trusted Ttent and Nami to finish them off. He had to focus on the Gnoll standing over the Tiefling. Once he had a line of sight on it, he whispered a short incantation and cast the spell known as Hunter's Mark. Once it had been cast, he let loose an arrow. The moment he did, he drew another arrow from his quiver and shot again./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"If he hit, the spell he had cast would make it so that the damage from his attacks were amplified. The first arrow flew straight into the Gnoll's shoulder and it shouted in pain. As it flinched from first shot, the second arrow found its way into the Gnoll's chest./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The Gnoll spat blood from its mouth but still stood. It pulled out the spear from the Tiefling's shoulder and began to move on Fyzal. As it did, it threw the spear. Thanks to the arrow in its shoulder, its aim was off and the spear went wide./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"The Gnoll was still charging towards Fyzal when another arrow flew in from the right and hit its midsection. It stumbled and slowed down. Fyzal took the opportunity to unload 2 more arrows into it. The Gnoll took another step forward before dropping face first into the dirt./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Edward wasted no time and ran for the Tielfing girl. Fyzal prodded the Gnoll in front of him to make sure it was really dead. Trent and Nami had taken care of the two Gnoll's by the fire and were coming over to him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Take a look around, there might be more lurking about," Trent and Nami nodded before heading back into the trees./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Fyzal went over to the girl on the horse that still had her hands over her face, crying./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Hey miss? Hey it's ok. You're safe now."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Safe?" The girl questioned between sobs./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Fyzal helped the girl down and sat her by the fire. Trent and Nami had shifted the Gnoll corpses somewhere else before they left to look around. He unfastened his cloak and wrapped it around her before heading back to Edward who was with the Tiefling./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""She's unconscious now, but I think she will be alright," Edward spoke./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Do what you need to," Fyzal said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Edward closed his eyes and concentrated. He placed his hands over the hole made by the spear, muttering the incantation for the healing spell, Cure Wounds. The area around his hands began to glow and the flesh around the wound seemed to grow back and fill up the hole./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""There. All fixed," Edward removed his hands, satisfied with his work./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Edward picked the Tiefling up and brought her to the fire. He placed her down by the fire and covered her with his cloak./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Trent and Nami came strolling back from the trees shortly afterwards and reported no other enemies. Fyzal sat by the fire, looking at his team and the people they rescued. They finished the mission with no casualties and managed to rescue others along the way. It was a successful mission in his books any day./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"strongspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"*Break*/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita woke up to the sound of voices she did not recognize. She was close enough to the fire to feel its heat and to smell that something was cooking in a pan. With a grunt, Alita propped herself up on one elbow. The last thing she remembered was getting skewered by Scarface and a hooded man shouting. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Hey. Look who's finally up."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita turned her head in the direction of the voice. Close to where she lay sat a man in half plate. He was fair skinned, average build and had a mace strapped to his belt./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""What happened?" Alita's words were raspy./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""What happened? Well you tried to play the hero and almost got yourself killed. That's what happened," Alita turned to look at the man that crouched over the fire with a pan in hand. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Don't mind Fyzal. He's just angry at himself for not being able to save you from getting stabbed. I'm Edward. What's your name?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Stabbed/span/emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"That's right. Alita had been stabbed in the right shoulder by Scarface. Yet she was propped up on her right elbow. Alita looked under her shirt. There was no sign of the wound. Not even a scar./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""I don't...how?" Alita's mind was racing trying to find an answer. "a healing potion?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita had heard of healing potions before. In fact, she knew Captain Jedrek kept a stash of healing potions but wouldn't use them unless it was an emergency as Healing potions were incredibly expensive. She's never seen one used before. But now, she can see that they were well worth their cost./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""No. We left without stocking up on potions so I just used a spell to heal you right up," Edward answered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""A spell? Like magic?" Alita laughed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Edward cocked an eyebrow and looked to the other members of his team./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You're serious?" Alita's laughter slowly died down./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""I mean, you've seen the Gnolls and no offence, but I assume you looked yourself in the mirror before. But still you find magic hard to believe?" Fyzal questioned as he walked over and placed a bowl and a cup before her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"emspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"My dear starlight, in case you have forgotten, we were born out of magic./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita remembered her mother's words. It's true, she has seen some pretty weird things these past week or so. From the Sahuagin to the Gnolls that Fyzal mentioned; which she assumed were the hyenas that captured her. Then there was the incident where her father was chained up by flaming shackles./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Can all of you do magic?" Alita asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Magical energy exists in all of us but how strong it is varies from person to person. The stronger it is, the better their affinity for the arcane arts. Back at the academy, they teach us how to properly channel that energy."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Wait. You're from the Academy?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""We are from the Academy," Fyzal nodded. "And judging by your reaction, you've had a less than pleasant experience with other members." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You could say that," Alita had met people who claimed they were from the Academy before./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"She explained that they were passengers aboard the Smooth Sailing. They were loud, obnoxious and thought they could do whatever they wanted since they were technically under the Emperor's protection. Alita had gotten into a fight with them but Captain Jedrek stopped her and paid them back when they asked for a refund when one of them had gotten hurt by Alita's hand./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Edward apologized./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""There are emidiots/em out there who give us a bad name. But that's not what the Academy's about," Alita could hear how much Fyzal disliked those idiots as he put it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""So what's the Academy for?" Alita enquired./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""To teach this," Fyzal gestured around them. "How to fight, how to defend others, how to save lives. At the very core, how to serve the people. Helping them any way we can. Sure the army could do that too, heck most of the Academy graduates join the army for the pay. But as a soldier, you are chained with orders. What happens if there's a situation where you should help, but can't because you were ordered not too?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""And the army always asks for compensation for their help. We do ask for compensation too, I'm not saying we don't. But we do it with compassion. If they've got gold, we ask only for what they can spare. If they are dirt poor, we'd probably do the job for free. Most of the time the Academy compensates us for our services."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Doesn't sound like it pays a lot," Alita pointed out./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Fyzal chuckled, "No it doesn't. But we made a choice. To put others before ourselves. It's a choice we've all tried to live by."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita had to admit, she had misjudged people from the Academy. Sure there were some bad apples, but if what Fyzal said was true? Then there might be a lot more people who were willing to do the right thing./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""It's a choice you seemed to make too," Edward said as he gestured across the fire to the other girl who sat quietly, listening and as Alita's eyes met hers, she spoke./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Thank you, for trying. Even when I wouldn't," Alita could barely hear her voice over the crackling of the fire./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""I did what I thought was right."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You know you'd fit in well at the Academy," Alita scoffed when Fyzal said it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alit scoffed at the idea of going into the Academy which as she just found out was basically a school that taught you how to fight and use magic. She couldn't imagine herself walking that life./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""Really I mean it. What's the use of saving people without another generation waiting in the wings? I just wish we had left it in better shape." Fyzal sighed. "You've already shown us that you've got the heart for it and, you're no pushover either."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""It's a couple of days from here to the town where the other girl was abducted. Then a couple more to Argus city so you'll have plenty of time to think it through," Edward said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;"Alita nodded her head. Sure it wasn't what she had thought of doing but as a child, she did dream of being like the adventurers from the books her mother used to read to her. Plus, the school could teach her how to better defend herself so when she graduated she could just go off on her own, continue her journey to see the world and she'd be fine./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12.0pt 0in .0001pt 0in;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #202124; background: white;""You still haven't told us your name yet," Edward inquired again./span/p 


End file.
